STRONGER HAND AS DONEGAL SHUFFLE DEC

Donegal v Mayo NFL Division One, Sunday 3pm BY PAT NOLAN

DONEGAL boss Declan Bonner should have a much stronger hand to play against Mayo in Sunday’s relegation showdown with Mayo at Ballybofey.

Bonner was minus a number of players for last Sunday’s loss to Monaghan partly due to a virus hitting the squad. But Martin Mcelhinney, Ryan Mchugh (left) and Odhran Macniallais are all in line for a return, as is Mark Mchugh.

Additionally, full-back Neil Mcgee is in contention to make his first appearance of the year as Donegal bid for the victory that would preserve their Division One status at Mayo’s expense.

Bonner told the Donegal Sport Hub: “We got badly knocked back by the virus at the weekend, but we’ll know more on them at training on Thursday.

“We lost a number of players on the morning of the match but that’s the way it goes. Hopefully we’ll have them all back into the squad for Sunday.”

There’ll be no return for Paddy Mcbrearty this side of the Championship opener against Cavan on May 13, however.

The Kilcar man was in the form of his life prior to picking up a knee injury that forced him out of the recent defeats to Tyrone and Monaghan. Bonner added: “He’s a huge loss for us. He really carried the fight in the early matches. He must have been averaging 10 points a game. That’s a huge loss to any team. Lads who’ve come in – and we’ve handed out a number of debuts in the League – have done well, but you do need that experience.”