Murphy would have considered every single detail prior to return - Lacey

Karl Lacey admits he’s as excited about Michael Murphy’s retirement u-turn as anyone following his 2012 All-Ireland winning teammate’s huge reveal last week.

Lacey guided Down kingpins Kilcoo through to the Ulster Club SFC semi-finals on Saturday evening after overcoming Cavan's Crosserlough by 0-15 to 1-10 in Newry.

Speaking after, the four-time All-Star says it’s difficult to ignore the attention Murphy’s change of heart is having on Donegal supporters since the news first broke on Wednesday afternoon.

“Looking at the reaction over the last two days, you can see just what the news means to the county,” the Four Masters clubman told BBC Sport NI.

“Knowing Michael, he’d have considered absolutely everything, every small detail, before he made that decision.

“It wouldn’t just have been one phone call to Jim McGuinness and a ‘yip, I’m good to go’. He’d have looked at his body, the energy he talked about that he couldn’t give anymore when he did first retire.

“But as a Donegal supporter, a Donegal person going to watch them next season, I’m as excited as anyone. It’s just great to be looking forward to”.

Meanwhile, Lacey admits his Kilcoo side hadn't it easy against Breffni flagbearers Crosserlough in the provincial quarter-final but was happy to see his team come through with two points to spare.

Crosserlough were hampered having been shown three black-cards - Oran Rehill, Kieran Smith and Dara McVeety - and were aggrieved to lose James Smith to a second yellow, claiming he hadn't been previously booked before being lined by referee Barry Cassidy.

Kilcoo were one up at the break, 0-8 to 1-4, with James Smith scoring the only goal. However, seven points from Paul Devlin and two each from Ryan McEvoy and Jerome Johnston/

Having had things more or less completely their own way through the Down SFC, Lacey was pleased to see his side have to dig it out in the provincial championship.

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“We knew it was going to be a tough game, they weren’t going to come here and lay down,” he explained.

“Last year we played Derrygonnelly, didn’t really get tested and then we were caught in the next round, so I think that game will stand to us.

“It was a test of character, they are a really good side. They play a nice brand of football, nice attacking football; they are very physical but we dealt with it well.

“When we needed to win a dirty ball, or for a man to stand up, we got that and it got us over the line.

“Whenever you get tight games like that, you can watch it and find areas of improvement, while in the Down championship we were going in at halftime six or seven points up, so tonight will hopefully stand to us.”