Donegal must plan without experienced trio

Yesterday’s confirmation of the inter-county retirements of Rory Kavanagh, Christy Toye, and David Walsh means Donegal will be without another trio of experienced players for the year ahead.

Colm McFadden and Eamon McGee stepped aside in the wake of Donegal’s 1-15 to 1-10 loss to Dublin in August’s All-Ireland quarter-final.

In recent weeks it emerged that Leo McLoone, Odhran MacNiallais, and Anthony Thompson would not be rejoining the panel, at least for the immediate future. Seven of the eight played in the 2012 All-Ireland final win over Mayo — MacNiallais is the exception, having not debuted until 2014.