'Donegal need to guard against complacency' – Martin McElhinney

Martin McElhinney believes that Donegal have taken a lot of lessons on their championship journey so far this season, but knowing that they cannot enter Croke Park complacent this weekend is perhaps their biggest one.

Donegal are appearing in their first official All-Ireland quarter-final on Sunday in eight years where they will face a Louth side brimming with confidence following the Wee County’s one-point win over Cork last weekend – the only county to have beaten Donegal so far this year in either league or championship.

And while Donegal’s defeat to the Rebels was acknowledged as only a blip, the St Michael’s man admits that it was a pushback that occurred at the right time, with the 2012 All-Ireland winner citing it as a blessing in disguise.

“The fact that they topped the group and that they got the blip against Cork, I think that was a good thing because I felt people in the county were getting carried away,” McElhinney said. 

“There were songs being released again and it was a bit mad, but if they hadn’t topped the group, it would’ve been a real disaster. 

“So, the fact they lost to Cork, I think Donegal now realise that no team is invincible, they learned their lesson and still got that crucial two-week break. So it was a blessing in disguise really, and no doubt it brought everyone back down to earth because if you get complacent in the latter stages of the championship, you won’t be in it for too long.”

Jim McGuinness’ side carry the favourites tag into this weekend with Louth playing in their first-ever All-Ireland quarter-final.

But McElhinney states that this is a team under Ger Brennan that has been improving all the time and will not sit back easily and watch their opponents walk over them. 

“Louth definitely have a chance. It’s not a straight formality because you have to remember that Louth pushed Donegal all the way in Ballyshannon at the start of the year in the league.

“They also pushed Dublin in the Leinster final so they know what they’re at and they’re well organised and have great belief.

“Like, they haven’t dropped off since Ger Brennan came in, they’ve been going upwards all the time, whereas Donegal are at the start of their journey.

“This is really only Donegal’s first year on a new road, where Louth have been building since Mickey Harte came in a few years ago, they’ve been progressing, so they’ll be no pushovers.” 

While playing in Croke Park in the summertime in the championship will be a new scene for many in this Donegal panel, with the county having not played there in the championship since 2019, it could be deemed as daunting for some.

But McElhinney believes that the team is good enough to put that to one side and should be there competing against the best teams. 

“I know for a lot of these players they’ve played in Croke Park in the league final this year, but it is very different come championship, and the fact that it’s a double header too, you can imagine there’ll be a big crowd,” he said. 

“But it’s a great experience to get to the latter stages of the championship and to play in Croke Park, a few of them will be used to this stage and a few won’t be, but at least they will be going in with great confidence. 

“I think we have the players at the moment to be competing against the best teams, so this is massive to get back into an All-Ireland semi-final.  

“I don’t think Croke Park will scare Donegal too much because one thing that Donegal have is that they’ve come through some really big derby matches in Ulster and those games are every bit as tough as playing in Croke Park because the fans are on top of you, the noise is unreal, and the games are tight. 

“Whereas Croke Park is a big open space, but that can put you in awe too, so the players just really need to focus on themselves and not to worry what’s going on around them. If they stick to their gameplan and revert back to the simple things, then they should be fine.”