McGuinness 'not that bothered' about league final

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness insists they are "not that bothered" about whether they reach the Allianz Football League Division 1 final in the wake of their defeat to Roscommon in Dr Hyde Park on Sunday.

The Ulster champions, who last won the league in 2007, are currently top of the table on nine points alongside Kerry, and occupy the spot courtesy of their win over the Kingdom in Ballyshannon.

Victory in the Hyde on Sunday would have sealed their place in the league final in just under a fortnight's time.

It seemed like an inevitability early in the second half after a massive scoring burst with the backing of a storm force wind saw Donegal whittle an 11-point half-time deficit down to two before the 50th minute.

However, the hailstones cleared and Roscommon regained the initiative into the heavy breeze, tagging on scores to build their lead again before Conor Hand's goal finally settled the encounter four minutes from time.

Donegal will still assure themselves of a league final place with a win over Division 2 bound Monaghan next Sunday. The gap between a potential league decider and their Ulster opener is not as tight as it was last summer, with Down coming to Letterkenny on 26 April. However, McGuinness insists a league final is not a priority.

"There are a lot of permutations," McGuinness told RTÉ Sport. "If we get there [league final], we get there.

"We're not that bothered. If we don’t get there, it gives us an extra week to prepare for the Down match."

On their failure to maintain their momentum throughout the second half, McGuinness says his own team were to blame, citing turnovers and sloppiness in possession.

"We have no complaints. We didn’t do enough to win the game. That’s the bottom line.

"We got it back to a couple of points with 20 minutes to go and one point with ten minutes to go with a gale force wind at our backs.

"If you’re not winning the game in that situation, it’s your own fault, so it’s back to the drawing board for us in many respects.

"Every score Roscommon got in the second half was as a result of our turnover or a kick-out we didn’t get away. The proof is in the pudding.

"We’re disappointed but we’ve had a good campaign up to this point. We’ll take a lot of learning from today and we’ll just move on to the next game now."

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