Jim McGuinness is sticking to his guns on Donegal's National League approach 

Jim McGuinness is content enough with how Donegal have started their NFL campaign but no one is getting carried away. 

Following wins over Dublin at Croke Park and Kerry in Ballyshannon, Donegal now turn attention to Mayo in two weeks' time in Letterkenny.

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And a win in O’Donnell Park on Sunday week against Andy Moran’s outfit would more or less secure their top-flight status. 

McGuinness has used plenty of fringe and youngsters to date, but it hasn’t had an impact on results. 

With more experienced campaigners coming back into the mix last time out in Michael Murphy and Oisin Gallen, the boss says things are coming together nicely. 

Shaun Patton, who underwent an ankle procedure in the close season, could be seen real soon but Ciaran Thompson, ACL, remains longer term. 

"What you're trying to do is give everybody minutes and sort of, you know, get them ready," said McGuinness. 

“We're looking forward to getting the full complement back, if you like. But also, you know, four points now on the board might give us a bit of flexibility down the line for looking at these younger lads, maybe for extended minutes or maybe full games and stuff. 

“That is probably the biggest plus from today,” he added.

Ryan McHugh, who started in the win over Dublin a fortnight ago, came in off the bench on the three-quarter hour mark in Ballyshannon. But McGuinness says the experienced Kilcar man is fine. 

"Ryan was fine today. We just felt it may be better coming into the game. He's played a lot of football and hopefully he'll freshen up for down the line”.

McGuinness reiterated his point in relation to what he wants to get out of the league. But if his side continues to win games and ends up making the decider, unlike last season, that won’t be an issue. 

Donegal seemed to pull the handbrake on their league efforts term because of the close proximity to the final and the start of the defence of their Ulster SFC. 

"Our thinking in the league is the same as what we spoke about before the league happened. We want to create a bit of depth in the squad. We want to make sure everybody gets through it as safely as possible”. 

He added: "We want to try and create a bit of depth. And so we will do that over the course of the next five games. If that puts us in that position to win it, fine, and if it doesn't, then we'll just be getting ready for the Championship”.

Moving on from the weekend’s win over Kerry and, indeed last season’s All-Ireland final loss to the Kingdom, McGuinness says his only focus now is what’s immediately in front of him, not in the rear view mirror. 

"If we go back to last year, we had a good start to the campaign in the league. We had a very good run in the Championship. We lost one game and we've had a good start now.

"So if you put all those games together, it's a decent run from the team. Everybody will focus in on last year's game in Croke Park in the final but, listen, that's beyond our control, if you like. 

“We're happy that the lads are still working hard and training and progressing. As I said, them other bits and pieces with the younger lads, that'll be a big focus for us now."