Donegal ace Gallagher ruled out of Ulster final

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness has confirmed Neil Gallagher will play no part in Sunday week’s Ulster final against Down.

Midfielder Gallagher went over on an ankle in the first minute of a match between his club Glenswilly and Kilcar last Saturday and sustained ligament damage and a fracture.

“The news isn’t great on Neil,” McGuinness said.

“He had a scan in Sligo and he seen a specialist in Dublin. It seems nasty enough. There seems to be a good bit of ligament damage there and a slight fracture around the ankle. Sometimes these can heal very quickly but we’ll just have to wait and see now how the thing develops.

“He needs to do everything right and he’s done everything right so far. He came off as soon as it happened. He’s seeing all the right people through ourselves and through the other people. That’s as much as we can do now but we’re hoping now more than expecting.”

McGuinness hopes Gallagher will be back by the August Bank Holiday weekend.

“I don’t think he’ll make the Ulster final or the qualifier round the week immediately afterwards if we’re beaten in the Ulster final,” McGuinness said. “There might be a chance he’ll make a quarter-final if we get through.

“It’s disappointing for Neil because he’s worked very hard on things and aspects of his game that weren’t natural to him. He changed to way he plays to fit into the way we play and did that very successfully.”