Lacey says second title bid was doomed to fail

Donegal’s bid to string back-to-back All-Ireland titles together never stood a chance, claimed centre-back Karl Lacey.

The Four Masters club man revealed the squad were forced to play catch-up after returning to the training ground in mid-January and they paid the price in a 16-point quarter-final hammering at the hands of Mayo.

“Preparation was the big one for us,” admitted Lacey. “Preparation was nowhere near what it had been the previous year. Come January we were already two or three months behind the other teams.