Donegal manager Carr anxious to get going after McKenna Cup draw

New Donegal boss Paddy Carr says the Dr McKenna Cup will provide useful and important competitive minutes for his panel following Tuesday night’s draw. 

Donegal have been pitted against both Monaghan and Down in the group stage. Carr will be up against fellow debutant bosses in the form of Vinny Corey at the Farney County and Conor Laverty, who has stepped up to the plate at senior level with the Mourne men. 

But that is a challenge the Fanad native is both looking forward to and is excited about.

“Everyone is getting used to everyone else but there is a freshness to that and what is encouraging is that the drive forward is coming from the players,” Carr explained.  

“The McKenna Cup is ideal preparation for the season ahead and there has been a lot of talk around the team and new management, so I’m looking forward to actually being able to talk about what is actually going on, on the field.  So, in that regard, the sooner the McKenna Cup starts, the better. 

“The reality is there has been a change with new management and new voices coming in. And change involves going outside of your comfort zone. But that’s good”. 

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Letterkenny side will come up against top Dublin side DCU, but will have their game at home in January

Carr, alongside Aidan O’Rourke and Paddy Bradley continue to integrate themselves with the Donegal squad as they familiarise themselves with new faces and their new surroundings. 

“The lads had all been working on their own programmes for a while now. We did a good bit of work over the weekend and after each session people are coming away from it more energised. 

“They all know the responsibility they have, to bring a positive and emotional energy into that dressing room. The squad remains open ended”.

Carr explained that neither he nor his management team are in any hurry to cull numbers or set anything in stone in regards to their training panel ahead of their competitive return to action. Everyone is going to be given sufficient time to impress. 

“We are only just back, and the squad should be announced in and around January 4 for the first game of the Dr McKenna Cup and that decision will only be made when we know that it’s the right time to make that decision”. 

What is pretty clear is that Carr would not have gone for the job, when the county is at an apparent crossroads, if he did not think there was still some pretty serious potential in this group of players. 

“That is true. I know they are all very talented footballers and that is a great credit to all the people who have been looking after these lads. We want to see them play with a little more freedom - to play the game that they see in front of them. 

“And I think that nurturing of talent will build character. And I’m looking forward to seeing all that come together out on the football field as well. Character is everything. We all see talent, but if it is not married to attitude and application, it is no good.

“If you get those three things together, then you can start getting excited about things.