Donegal boss Jim McGuinness gives fitness updates on Shaun Patton  and Michael Murphy 

Jim McGuinness says Shaun Patton won’t be available for a while yet but says Gavin Mulreany is deputising fantastically well in the St Eunan’s man’s absence. 

Mulreany made a crucial penalty save from Oisin Conaty late on at the BOX-IT Athletics Grounds as Donegal held off a late Armagh surge. 

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Speaking after, McGuinness said that Mulreany’s prolonged run in the team has really boosted the Mountcharles native’s confidence. 

“Gavin has done great,” McGuinness explained. “The penalty save was excellent. He made a couple of great saves there too during the course of things. He also got his kickouts away in the crunch moments. 

“That’s what you want, goalkeepers are looking to rise above that sixty percent average nationally. He’s doing a really good job. 

“And like anything, whatever job you’re doing, as you get more experience, you get more confident. So that’s fantastic”. 

Pressed on the availability of first-choice stopper Patton any time soon, McGuinness simply said: “Not at the minute, he’ll be another while”. 

Michael Murphy didn’t travel to Armagh on Sunday but the boss explained that was just a precautionary measure as Donegal look to ease the veteran Glenswilly man back to action after his recent Achilles procedure. 

“Michael just didn’t travel. We didn’t do that last year either. For away games, we normally don’t take Michael. All going well, we’ll have him available for next week and Galway. 

“He’s in a good place. A little like Jason McGee, we’re conscious of how we manage him. He’s come out of a surgery and he’s also looking to get his minutes and fitness up”. 

Meanwhile, McGuinness says Ciaran Moore’s complaint, having hobbled off at the weekend, is just a minor one where he rolled an ankle in the second-half in that 1-20 to 0-19 win. 

Next up for Donegal are Galway at Fr Tierney Park, Ballyshannon. And while he didn’t name names, the manager did suggest he’d be shy a few bodies with soft tissue knocks again prevalent as a result of what was another soft, sapping playing surface after more heavy rainfall on Sunday. 

“We'll probably be down a couple of men for next week. Hopefully, other fellas will come in and get that chance”.