In-form O’Donnell ready to back himself for the Donegal cause

DONEGAL forward Shane O’Donnell was happy to get over the line against Monaghan – but insists the work begins straight away as they prepare for a last-four clash with Meath.

Donegal recovered from a seven-point half-time deficit to overcome the challenge of Monaghan last Saturday evening at Croke Park to advance to the All-Ireland semi-final for the second year running.

O’Donnell had a big part to play in the second-half turnaround with his pace and ball-carrying ability causing the Farney men major issues.

As well as this, last Saturday’s Player of the Match contributed with three points from play having kicked 0-7 in the eight championship outings prior to this.

The St Eunan’s clubman stated post-match that as nice as it is to get his name on the scoresheet, the greater good of the side always takes priority.

“I suppose it’s not something I go out and try to do. I kind of go out and make sure I’m doing the best for my team and get the results that we need, if the scores come then the scores come but I don’t get too disappointed if nothing comes because I don’t usually get on the scoreboard too often.

“It’s always a good day when you do get a score or two so I’m happy with the performance as well and with everyone else also.”

O’Donnell opened his account on Saturday with a fine right-footed score, Donegal’s final one of the opening stanza.

He discussed he needs to start backing himself more as the first score provided him with the confidence to push on and convert more after the break.

“I think we were six or seven points down at that stage and I decided to probably back myself, I probably don’t do it enough and I was happy to see it go over the bar.

“That probably gave me confidence then to kick on and score a few more in the second half so I probably need to start backing myself a bit more to get on the scoreboard.”

Last Saturday’s six-point triumph over the Farney men see’s McGuinness’s outfit advance to the All-Ireland semi-final where they’ll face Meath who themselves had a fine win over Galway at HQ on Sunday.

After a demanding schedule that saw the Ulster champions play three games in just 13 days, they now have two weeks to prepare for the Royal challenge in the last four.

The Letterkenny man knows the task that lies ahead and said that they’ll be putting the head down right away to get ready for the showdown with Robbie Brennan’s side.

“Definitely yeah, we always knew it was going to be a big task with the game there. Week on week is tough going on the bodies both physically and mentally. We responded well in the second half to get over the line which is the main thing. It’ll be a big two weeks and we’ll be putting our heads down now straight away.”

“It’ll be a big one now against Meath in two weeks’ time and we’ll try to do our homework as quickly as we can.”