Ryan McHugh faces Dublin for the first time since he scored two goals in Donegal’s epic All-Ireland semi-final win over the Dubs in August.
Ryan McHugh is relishing the prospect of returning to Croke Park to face Dublin with memories of that glorious victory in August still fresh in his mind.
Donegal’s last visit to Croke Park was painful for supporters and players as Jim McGuinness’s side lost their All-Ireland crown to Kerry.
However, McHugh insists they’ll be no hangover from that defeat ahead of their blockbuster league clash with Dublin, who Donegal famously humbled in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final.
McHugh netted two goals that afternoon and announced his mark on the game nationally in a superb performance that shocked the country.
Donegal got their league campaign off to a flyer last week against Derry while Dublin suffered defeat to Cork.
This weekend’s highly anticipated encounter between the two counties has all the ingredients to be a cracking clash, and McHugh is looking forward to it.
McHugh told The Irish Daily Star, “Croke Park is something you look forward to so that’s not an issue.
“We’re just looking forward to the occasion and hopefully getting something out of the game.
“After getting the win (against Derry), we can look forward to Dublin now at the weekend.
“We’re going to train as well as we can this week and then look forward to going back to Croke Park.
“It’s the kind of fixture you want to be involved in. Croke Park under lights and against Dublin is always a big one.
“It’s where we want to be – Division One. The best teams in Ireland are in it.
“It’ll be a very competitive campaign this year but we’re all looking forward to it.
“In the lead up we were only focused on Derry and we weren’t looking past them.
“We’re delighted to get the win. We weren’t happy with our first-half performance and we felt we should have been doing a lot better.
“We regrouped at half-time and we talked about it and then came out in the second-half and produced the performance we knew we were capable of.
“That was good enough, thankfully, to get the win.”
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