By John Harrington

Donegal’s Ryan McHugh believes the Ulster side are good enough to go all the way and win the Sam Maguire Cup this year.

They failed to progress beyond their provincial championship in the last two years, but McHugh is convinced they have the quality in their panel to win silverware.

He knows too, though, that talk is cheap and it's time they turned their potential into something more substantial.

“I believe we can, I really, really do,” said McHugh when asked had this Donegal team the quality to win the Sam Maguire Cup this year.

“I wouldn't be putting in the effort that we're all putting in if I didn't believe that. I believe it every year that I've put on a Donegal jersey.

“I've been fortunate enough to play for Donegal since 2013 and every single year I do believe that we have massive chances of winning silverware in every competition we enter.

“I've been fortunate enough to experience winning a couple of Ulsters and they're the best days of your life, so they are, lifting the cup in Clones and taking it down to the supporters on the pitch and then coming back to Donegal town. It's memories that will stick with you forever.

“We have to try to get back to that in Donegal. Unfortunately the last two years we haven't lifted any silverware and it's something we strive to do every single year.

“I really do believe that we've got great talent in Donegal. There's huge work going on in terms of the senior team and underage. Karl Lacey and Aaron Kyles are doing phenomenal work with the academy that's been set up in the last number of years and I do believe there's a lot of good players coming through. And I do believe we have a lot of top players in the senior set-up at the minute and that we've a lovely mix of youth and experience.

“I think we need to stop talking about how we have all of these good players and just show week in week out that these are some of the top players in Ireland.”

Donegal might well have beaten Tyrone in the Ulster semi-final last year had Michael Murphy not been red-carded in the first half, so it must have been difficult not to wonder what might have been when Tyrone went on from there to win the Sam Maguire Cup?

“Watching any team bar Donegal win an All-Ireland is tough when you feel that you have a good team and you feel you can compete with a lot of the top teams whether that's Tyrone, Dublin, Kerry, Mayo, anyone," says McHugh.

“When you see them lift the All-Ireland, it's tough, but, listen, fair play to Tyrone. Even after our game I think they improved so much from game to game going in to Monaghan in Ulster Final and then Kerry and Mayo obviously in the All-Ireland Final. They improved every single match and you have to take your hat off to them.

“I suppose you have to learn from what they done right and try to take that into your set-up next year and try to improve every single game.

“Obviously history speaks for itself, over the last number of years Donegal has always been competitive against Tyrone. We'll always feel we match up nicely with them.

“People talked a lot in Donegal since that match that if we had gotten over the line against a Tyrone team that went on to win an All-Ireland could we have gone on to win it if we had beaten them? Listen, that's the million dollar question. Nobody knows that.

“Tyrone were deserving All-Ireland winners and proved they could improve every single match. I think Donegal need to prove that now next year and I think we've a great chance to do that going into the Allianz National League.”

First up for Donegal in this year’s Division 1 campaign is what should be a hard-fought clash with Mayo on Sunday which will be played in the unusual surroundings of Markievicz Park in Sligo because MacHale Park is being resurfaced.

“It's going to be a massive match,” says McHugh.

“Everyone know what Mayo bring to the game when they go to the well. The huge intensity that they bring.

“We've had some huge battles with Mayo over the years in the Allianz League expecially. We've normally come out on top in Donegal and they've probably normally come out on top in Castlebar so I suppose that's a wee bit of an advantage taking them out of there and getting it in a neutral venue.

“I'm really looking forward as a player to getting into the Allianz League this year. We're blessed to be in the top division and playing the top teams, that's where we want to be. As a county and player you want to be playing against the top teams and the top players.

“As a supporter of the GAA I'm also looking forward to the Allianz League. Everyone knows what's gone on in the world in the last couple of years due to Covid and we haven't experienced the Allianz League as we know it. So it's great to get back to normality and get huge crowds out at games again.

“If we're playing on a Sunday I'm even just really looking forward to sitting down on the Saturday and watching matches.”