Kieran Gillespie will be absent for the Donegal Under-21s tonight as Declan Bonner’s men face Cavan in the rearranged EirGrid Ulster Under-21 semi-final in Brewster Park (8pm).
By Chris McNulty, Donegal Sport Hub
Gillespie pulled up in the warm-up before Sunday’s Allianz League game against Mayo with a hamstring injury and has been ruled out of contention.
Christian Bonner will sit out the next few weeks after a problem with a disc in his back flared yp again.
However, the Donegal boss has welcomed Conor Doherty, Niall O’Donnell and Mark Coyle – all of whom had been out with hamstring ailments – back into the fold.
“They have all come back in the last week and it’s been good to get them on board again,” Bonner says.
“They may be short match fitness, but they’re not far away.
“Kieran will be a big loss for us. He has had trouble since the start of the year and has broken down a couple of times. It’s unfortunate for Kieran and unfortunate for us because he’s a massive player – but he just needs time to recover.
“Out of our whole squad, we’re only missing two, which is pretty good – and we’ll have a strong panel ready to go.”
The game was called off last Wednesday because of a waterlogged pitch in Enniskillen.
“We had no issue other than that the decision should have been made earlier,” Bonner says, “but that was the same for both camps.
“It was frustrating for all of us and I’m sure for the supporters who travelled a long distance – but hopefully they’ll come back out again.
“We know Cavan, as always, will be there in big numbers and hopefully our own supporters turn up too. When the going gets tough in a big Championship game it’s always good to hear the crowd behind you.
“The lads are looking forward to this. We know what Cavan will bring. They’ll be well organised, well drilled and we’ll have to bring our A game.”
After losing to Donegal in the 2010 Ulster U-21 final, Cavan won the next four in a row, while Donegal lost the finals in 2013, 2014 and 2014, the first two of those against the Breffni.
While Donegal had to negotiate a replay against Tyrone, Cavan eased to a 21-point quarter-final win over Fermanagh. Cavan won 2-19 to 0-4.
Rory Carr is back in line to start for Donegal and Jason McGee, who played the full game for the Donegal seniors on Sunday, is also back in contention.
Both bring real height and physical power to the table.
Bonner said: “Donegal, in the recent past, have struggled to develop that type of player, but we have a number of them coming through now at the moment.
“That augers very well for Donegal if they can keep working at their games and keep looking after themselves.
“Jason has come through very well this year. I took him into the minors a couple of years back. I always saw potential in him. He’s learning now all the time and he’s got some very valuable experience being in with the seniors.
“He’s just out of minor and all the experience will stand to him.
“Rory is a good option again. He was out for a long time. The sharpness and match fitness mightn’t be where he’d like, but he’s making good progress and is definitely an option.”
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