Lacey not looking beyond Orchard showdown

Karl Lacey insists Donegal are not getting distracted by talk of a rematch against Dublin in an All-Ireland semi-final.

Lacey’s former team-mate Brendan Devenney has talked up the chances of the pair facing one another for the first time in the championship since their infamous low scoring 2011 game.

However, Lacey is not looking beyond Armagh this Saturday and says Jim McGuinness is keeping players on the straight and narrow.

“We have to shield ourselves from that,” he said of the speculation. “It’s maybe something that has been thrown out there. Jim’s always kept our heads in good places.

“One thing he spoke about is we’re not to be thinking any further on. We’re in a quarter-final. Since 2011 since Jim took over, it’s always been game by game and we’re not going to let that slip.”

It goes without saying Donegal enter the knockout stages in better fettle than last season.

The Four Masters man says it wasn’t about a lack of appetite last season but a dearth of fitness.

“With all of the distractions that went on last year, we missed our whole pre-season. We had two months of hard training we’ve got under our belts this year. We’ve had a training camp as well.

“We got serious work done compared to last year. The medical team has the stats on what we’ve done in training this year compared to last year. Exactly what it is I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head but I know there’s quite a margin there.

“The hunger was there last year. Everybody meant good last year, but it just wasn’t in the legs and we just weren’t up to the physical battle. We’ve got that fitness back now.”