McGuinness expects Murphy’s minutes to increase in the upcoming months

Jim McGuinness is expecting Michael Murphy’s gametime to increase in the upcoming weeks as they look to get him up to speed for the Ulster and All-Ireland Championship.

Michael Murphy was introduced at half-time in Ballyshannon against Galway as Donegal trailed by 0-13 to 1-7, and they soon found themselves six points behind and a man down as Stephen McMenamin picked up a second yellow, with Michael Langan only coming back on the field after receiving a first-half black card.

But the Glenswilly man played a big part in clawing back that deficit on what was a record-equalling appearance, as he drew level with Gaoth Dobhair’s Neil McGee on 194 appearances.

Along with Finnbarr Roarty and Peadar Mogan, the trio introduced at half-time hit six points, two for Murphy and three for Mogan, including the 69th-minute two-pointer from the St Naul’s man that brought the game level at 1-17 to 0-20, which would be the final point of the match in Fr Tierney Park.

“Absolutely brilliant performance today, and there has been a wee bit of commentary around him as well, but we see him as a very important player for us moving forward, and I think he showed that today.

“I don’t think minutes will be restricted for him moving forward, either. He wouldn’t be there if he didn’t believe he could do it, so we’re just building him and trying to get him ready.

READ NEXT: Conor O’Donnell named in the GAA.ie Team of the Week

“You have to remember as well that he was out (of intercounty football) for two years, so he actually would be well over that quota of 200 had he not taken those two years out.

“But we’re delighted to have him, and it was a serious performance there today when we really needed it, so we’ll keep trying to build him for the summer.

Murphy has played just three times so far this season, all as a substitute and Sunday was his longest run on the pitch after coming on at half-time.

McGuinness mentioned after the Armagh win, when the Glenswilly man didn’t travel, that, like last year, they were only using him in home games in their Division 1 campaign, which has been evident so far with his cameos against Kerry, Mayo and Galway all being in the county.

And with their final two league games away to Roscommon and Monaghan, with a possible league final in Croke Park after that, the boss mentioned he may still be seen again in the league.

“We’ll put an injection into him to get him to Roscommon,” McGuinness joked.

“We’ll see how it goes. He has two weeks of a break now, it’s not a massive journey, and if it ties in with his own development, then that’ll be the decision that will be made.”