Donegal have lost a lot of experience from their panel following the news that three members of their 2012 All-Ireland winning panel - Christy Toye, Rory Kavanagh, and David Walsh - have all retired from inter-county football.

Eamon McGee and Colm McFadden had already hung up their jerseys after the 2016 campaign, while Leo McLoone and Odhran MacNiallais have also made themselves unavailable for the county in the coming season.

Kavanagh initially retired after the 2014 season but made a comeback to the panel in 2016 after just a year away from the inter-county scene.

Both he and Toye made their inter-county debuts way back in 2001, so they’ve given an incredible service to the county. Donegal manager Rory Gallagher admitted they’ll be missed.

“They’re big losses in experience,” Gallagher told the local Donegal media today. “It’s been outrageous, the commitment they’ve given to Donegal.

“We have been very fortunate with all of these players.

“Christy and Rory are two of a kind. We’ve become so accumstomed to seeing them in training and in games.

“They owe no-one anything and they’ve enjoyed their careers, especially the last few years.”

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