Michael Murphy
By John Harrington
Donegal captain Michael Murphy says he’s fully fit for next Sunday’s Ulster SFC Semi-Final against Tyrone.
Alarm-bells rang in the county when he sustained a knee injury club-match two weeks ago, but Murphy has revealed no serious damage was done.
“I got a bang there two Sundays ago now, it was just a scare,” says Murphy.
“We played a load of league games this year. I got a bang on the inside of the knee against Gweedore.
“I thought the worst at the time like anybody tends to do, but it was more of an impact than anything twisted or instability there. I got that out of the way fairly quickly and it’s full-go now for the Tyrone game.”
Murphy has been in great form so far this year for Donegal and believes he’s benefited from a long period of being injury-free which has allowed him to develop his fitness and sharpness.
“I think so. I always try to get the six, seven or eight weeks without any injuries and get that training under the belt. It's a big help and I got that early in the year.
“It gets the body that little bit stronger and well able to take the rigours of what's thrown in the National League. I got that under the belt thanks bit to God.
“Touch wood everything's fairly good so far.”
Donegal star Michael Murphy.
Last year Murphy had to cope with a number of niggling injuries, but he doesn’t want to use that as an excuse for not playing to his full potential.
“There was a few (niggling injuries)," he says. "You're probably just coming back from one niggle and something else was cropping up.
“There was no excuse and I knew myself last year that performance wise I wasn't playing as good as I would have liked to have played. But again that was totally down to myself solely.
“I don't think I was anyway unfit, I think I was every bit as prepared and able to handle things. For one thing or another my performances weren't there.
“There's hunger there this year to try and right the wrongs of that and try put that night. I am enjoying it, I'm enjoying it every bit as much this year. Time will tell now it's up to me to try and prove it for the rest of the year.
“The age I'm at now too you're looking at the latter half of the career. You know the years mightn't always be there for you too. I'm enjoying it, loving it. Any chance you get to play and any time you're injury free is a big plus.”
