All-Star nominee Stephen McMenamin has joined Donegal’s long-term injury list ahead of their Allianz League Division 1 opener against Mayo in Ballybofey on Saturday.
Manager Declan Bonner refused to go into the specifics of the injury but said the defender has gone under the knife.
Bonner said of McMenamin: “He underwent surgery last weekend. I will leave the medical team deal with that, but he will be out of action for the league.”
All-Ireland winning goalkeeper Paul Durcan returned to the panel last year, although he has had a knee operation recently and Daire O Baoill is expected to miss “three or four matches” with ankle ligament damage.
They join a host of other absentees for the Ulster champions with Paddy McGrath, Kieran Gillespie and Carndonagh’s Conor O’Donnell out of the league with ACL injuries. Eoghan Ban Gallagher broke an ankle last July and remains on the sidelines, while midfielder Jason McGee has an ongoing hamstring complaint and teenage forward Oisin Gallen remains out with a shoulder injury. Patrick McBrearty is still in the USA and will return early next week.
Donegal have six players involved in the Sigerson Cup semi-finals with Michael Murphy’s Letterkenny Institute of Technology team featuring Michael Langan, Eoghan McGettigan, goalkeeper Michael Lynch and Peadar Mogan facing Carlow IT tonight in Inniskeen, Co Monaghan. DCU have defenders Conor Morrison and Brendan McCole in their ranks ahead of their clash with UCD.
Bonner added: “Numbers wise at the minute, I would be quite happy but with two training sessions and six guys in action. I have a team ready to go with it but will that be the case come Saturday night. There are no guarantees and the way I look at it, there will be opportunities. Division one is very competitive. I am happy enough with what we have if we can avoid anything else.”