Donegal captain Michael Murphy has described as ‘rubbish’ claims that he has any influence on referees.
Murphy was asked about recent comments by Meath manager Andy McEntee.
After the Allianz League Division 2 final, in which Murphy scored seven points as Donegal defeated Meath at Croke Park, McEntee, had a wry pop at the Glenswilly man.
“He’s a target man and he is very influential in a lot of areas,” McEntee said following the game.
“He is very influential all around the field. We get a guy who gets two yellows, but the bould Michael gets booked and ticked three or four times … is that possible? Maybe I’m exaggerating, but …”
At the launch of the 2019 Kellogg’s Cul Camps, Murphy dismissed the notion.
“What do you say to it?” Murphy said.
“It wouldn’t be a bad thing to have even though it’s rubbish.
“There’s sometimes and some instances where you commit a foul and you get a yellow card but I’m in no place to influence anything. I go out and play the game as best I can as an individual.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever been asked about it in an interview or anything like that. It’s a difficult one to answer. It’s the first time it’s come up.”
Murphy returned to action midway through the League campaign and played a huge part in Donegal winning promotion and sealing the Division 2 title, with big performances against Armagh, Cork, Kildare and Meath.
Murphy said: “When I got back into things it was that fourth game in the National League and I was just glad to get a number of league games underneath the belt because it wasn’t looking good at the start of January.
“The speed of the National League now is gone through the roof. It’s right up on par with what a championship game would be.
“It takes a little while longer, I’d hoped to be back a wee bit earlier in the league but the operation and recuperating from that took a wee while longer than normal.
“Touch wood everything’s good at the moment and I’ll push forward now towards championship.”
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