Donegal's Paddy McBrearty nearing return to full fitness
Tuesday 26 March 2019 10:15, UK
Donegal star Paddy McBrearty is nearing a return to full fitness, according to team-mate Stephen McMenamin.
McBrearty has been out of action since last year's Ulster final, and many are of the opinion that the Tír Chonaill men would have been All-Ireland contenders last summer were it not for their marquee forward's cruciate injury.
While the Kilcar man is yet to return to action, it is likely he will be fit in time for the championship opener.
"Paddy has been back running and back training," explained McMenamin. "I'd say Paddy's plan is to be back for the championship first round against Fermanagh. Paddy knows himself that if he's not right, he won't be risking it. Paddy will be a massive addition to the Donegal team whenever we get him back."
The star forward is taking part in training once again.
"I'd say last week and this week he's easing himself in," continued McMenamin. "He's not going to go full tear at anything. I'd say he's going to step into drills, step out of drills, he's going to pace himself, he's not going to rush into anything.
"The forwards at the minute will be looking over their shoulders seeing Paddy back training. Paddy is going to be coming back thinking he'll need to earn his spot."
Meanwhile, the Ulster county will plan without McBrearty as they prepare for next Saturday's Allianz Football League final against Meath.
Declan Bonner's charges recorded a 1-20 to 0-10 victory over Kildare on Sunday to seal their return to the top tier for 2020.
"We're glad to get out of Division 2 and be back up in Division 1 playing the best teams," said McMenamin.
"Our league has been up and down. But I think the performance against Kildare really reflected Donegal's style of football, we put up a high score against them.
"We've got a lot of the older players back. We've been playing a lot of the league with a younger team, a younger squad, starting fresh. It's hard to play well without your leaders. Having Michael [Murphy] back, Leo [McLoone], Frank [McGlynn] is back training. It's good to get the leaders back in. I think that performance really showed having them back in training and back in the squad brings Donegal football to a different level."
"Our main aim is to get to an All-Ireland final, and win an All-Ireland."
As the side gain momentum, McMenamin feels they can challenge for top honours in 2019:
"At the moment, yes I do [think Donegal can win this year's All-Ireland]. The strength and depth we have, no man's place in the team is secure. Compared to other years where you sort of knew the team, but this year you're looking over your shoulder and nobody is safe at the minute. There could be 10 or 11 backs there at the minute who will feel like they should be starting so it's not easy.
"Ulster is not going to be easy. You have to be performing at the same level as you're going to be performing on All Ireland and the Super 8s so you need to be at an extreme level to beat the likes of Tyrone because they're always performing well. At the end of the day, our main aim is to get to an All-Ireland final, win an All-Ireland, but Ulster will be at the top of our list for the next six to eight weeks.
"Hopefully to go on and win an All-Ireland, that's the main goal."
