There were a lot of surprised faces in Galway last weekend when Donegal's team sheet didn't include some of their biggest names.
Michael Murphy had made his long awaited return to play the week before, coming off the bench to kick three points against Armagh and many were expecting him to get his first start this week.
However, the flying forward wasn't even named on the bench and other key figures such as Paddy McBrearty, Michael Lanagan, Ryan McHugh, and Eoin Ban Gallagher, also sat this one out.
The elements gave Galway a huge advantage in the first half, getting off to a great start, and creating a sizeable lead, and although the Ulster side clawed it back in the second half, the deficit was just to big in the end.
Speaking to Donegal Live after the game, McGuinness explains why Murphy and CO were dropped from the panel for this game.
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“We’re just trying to manage him (Murphy) and build him as much as we can.
"Michael Langan's improving. He's not that far away. He's probably another couple of weeks away in terms of where he's at.
“Paddy had a wee bit of a niggle, and Eoin Ban, Ryan McHugh, a couple of the rest of them. We’re just freshening them, to be honest with you.
"They’ve played a lot of football, they’ve played every game in the pre-season and they’ve played every game in the league.
“We have a number of players returning this week into the squad, which is positive. We’ll focus on that and work with those lads over the next couple of weeks.
"We’ll take the positives from today. We’ll take their learnings as well.”
Despite this defeat, Donegal are in a very healthy position after winning their first three games on the bounce, and with only Galway remaining as the undefeated side this season, there is every chance that the two teams could meet again in the League Final.
