Fired-up Donegal aiming to bounce back and defy the doubters

Coming into this year’s championship, only Down (10) and Limerick (six) had worse losing runs than Donegal.

Their string of five defeats, dating back to round four in March and stretching to their heavy Division 1 semi-final loss to Dublin has wiped a lot of expectation about the county.

It’s also given rise to claims they are finished as an entity having clocked up too much mileage to withstand the rigours of another Ulster gauntlet, starting against Fermanagh this Sunday, followed by an All-Ireland campaign.