No concerns on Brendan McCole ahead of Dublin NFL opener - Jim McGuinness

Jim McGuinness says All-Star full-back Brendan McCole will be ready to go for Saturday evening’s NFL Division 1 opener against Dublin at Croke Park. 

The Mountcharles native departed the action early on in the weekend’s Dr McKenna Cup final win over Monaghan. 

READ NEXT: Donegal move through the gears nicely to see off Monaghan in the McKenna Cup final 

But boss McGuinness says that withdrawal was a precautionary measure and that he expects the St Naul’s clubman to take his usual place on the edge of the square on Jones Road. 

“Sometimes Brendan has a thing, an issue where it’s a neuro one. It’s nothing soft tissue. So we didn’t want to take any chances. 

“He’ll be fine tomorrow, that’s the way it works. So we have a clean bill of health after the McKenna Cup and that’s brilliant”. 

Donegal do look set to continue to be without the likes of Michael Murphy, Shaun Patton and Oisin Gallen, after all three had minor procedures carried out in the off-season. 

Ciaran Moore and Daire Ó Baoill were also absent in Healy Park but the manager says that was a case of managing the pair’s minutes in the pre-season competition. 

And with Eoghan Ban Gallagher and Shane O’Donnell both back in the mix, there will still be plenty of experience to call upon at HQ this upcoming weekend. 

“None of the lads that weren’t here tonight will be rushed. When they do come back we’ll know they’ll be ready. But everyone is training well and progressing nicely”. 

Ger Brennan has taken over the reins in the capital so plenty of eyes will be trained on this one, for a variety of reasons. 

Brennan has used the O’Byrne Cup to look at his fringe options with little to no first-team involvement there. 

So McGuinness admits he doesn’t really know what to expect from his opening night opposition. 

“All the games are at the same level, that’s just where it’s at in Division 1. But Dublin is a big one in the context of a new manager in up there, it being a home game. 

“There will be a lot of excitement and that will bring energy. So from our point of view, that’s great as well. And it’s always brilliant to get back to Croke Park.

“The Dublin players involved in the pre-season games, there might be three or four, at most, that make their league squad. 

“So we intend to focus on ourselves this week. We have our own objectives in the league, what we want to do and achieve. We’ll use these games to do that”.

McGuinness has blended in a host of young and exciting graduates to his own set-up for 2026 and it will be very interesting to see who he looks to progress on, that little bit further, in the league, with the ultimate aim being ready to be an option for the Ulster SFC.  

“We have enjoyed it up to this point. But we’re not looking backwards now, we’re looking forward. 

“But in the context of the season, there are eight to nine teams that will fancy their chances this year. 

“We believe we are one of those sides. We know how hard it is to get back to that level. So we’re just going to approach it one game at a time.”