McGuinness dismisses fears around Murphy's fitness

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness insists his talisman Michael Murphy is not an injury concern ahead of Sunday week's All-Ireland football final against Kerry.

Murphy was withdrawn after 45 minutes of the semi-final win over Meath, with observers suspecting that he may have tweaked his hamstring in the process of scoring the last of his six points.

Shortly after kicking that point he walked to the sideline and was engaged in conversation with McGuinness, with captain Paddy McBrearty beginning his warm-up straight after.

Murphy kicked one free short after that, before being replaced by McBrearty with 25 minutes to play.

The 2012 All-Ireland-winning captain was present at Donegal's training session on Tuesday evening and manager McGuinness insisted Murphy was fit to face the Kingdom.

"He's absolutely fine," he told RTÉ Sport. "No concerns whatsoever."

McBrearty kicked 0-03 following his introduction and would be a superb replacement were one needed, but Murphy's impact since his return from two years of retirement has arguably been even more significant than predicted and he is central to the Ulster champions' gameplan.

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