Gaelic Games

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Donegal manager Jim McGuinness feels his side's 1-20 to 0-20 win over Dublin at Croke Park will give him more "flexibility" for the remainder of their league campaign.

The Ulster champions enjoyed a good start to Division One with victory on the road and with two points on the board, McGuinness feels it eases a little bit of early pressure in a highly competitive division.

It was a return to the scene of Donegal's All-Ireland final defeat by Kerry last summer but this was not a factor for McGuinness who said their sole focus was on winning the game in front of them.

"It's always good to get a victory on the road, particularly in Croke Park," the Donegal manager told BBC Sport NI.

"We got a chance to look at a few lads tonight, following on from the McKenna Cup and getting the points on the board so early [in the campaign] is most important.

"It's two points and we won't be going much deeper psychologically. With points on the board it gives us more flexibility within the squad coming down the line.

"Dublin came hard in the second half and asked questions, but you're going to expect that and that's the challenge you want."

One of the new faces, Shea Malone scored the crucial goal in the first half, while McGuinness used the game to give league debuts to Kieran Gallagher, Turlough Carr and Conor McCahill.

Some of the established names such as Oisin Gallen, Michael Murphy and Shaun Patton are yet to filter back into playing contention with McGuinness confirming they are "all very close, but we won't be rushing them" as he reiterated his stance that he intends to use the league to bolster the panel.

"We're just looking a couple of things out of the league, stay injury-free as much as possible and develop a bit of depth in the squad," he added.

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Brendan Rogers and Shane McGuigan will return to the Derry team for their Division Two National League opener against Meath at Croke Park on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Neither Rogers nor McGuigan featured for Derry during the Dr McKenna Cup with manager Ciaran Meenagh opting to give the Slaughtneil duo an extended break after their club's run to the All-Ireland club hurling semi-final.

Ryan Scullion has been handed the number one jersey with regular goalkeeper Odhran Lynch still sidelined.

The Oak Leafers are also boosted in defence with Padraig McGrogan and Conor McCluskey named in the full-back line alongside Diarmuid Baker.

Gareth McKinless who missed the entirety of last year's campaign has been handed the number six jersey.

Rogers will partner Conor Glass in midfield, while McGuigan will be joined in the full-forward line by Lachlan Murray and Niall Loughlin.

Despite naming a hugely experienced starting team, there's plenty of youth on the Derry bench with Conor McAteer, Sean Young, Sean Kearney, Patrick McGurk and the returning Jack Doherty providing options as replacements.

Eoin McEvoy and Dan Higgins remain sidelined as Derry begin their efforts for an immediate return to Division One.

Derry: Ryan Scullion; Conor McCluskey, Padraig McGrogan, Diarmuid Baker; Conor Doherty, Gareth McKinless, Shea Downey; Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers; Ethan Doherty, Niall Toner, Paul Cassidy; Lachlan Murray, Shane McGuigan, Niall Loughlin.

Subs: Shea McGuckin, Ruairi Forbes, Patrick McGurk, Mark Doherty, Conor McAteer, Matthew Downey, Jack Doherty, Ruairi O Mianain, Conall Higgins, Sean Kearney, Sean Young.

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Derry manager Ciaran Meenagh says it's important his side do not become "too fixated on one team" as they begin their National League Division Two campaign against Meath at Croke Park on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Oak Leaf County were relegated from Division One last season, failing to win any of their seven fixtures.

Former interim boss Ciaran Meenagh is now in charge of the team and his first task is guiding the 2024 league champions back to Division One.

On paper, Derry could not have been handed a more difficult start, taking on two of the sides that reached the last four of the All-Ireland series in Meath before hosting Tyrone in their second game.

"At the end of the day, we have seven games in nine weeks and if we're too fixated on one team," Meenagh told BBC Sport NI.

"We have Meath and then we have Tyrone at home and then we have Kildare away, coming week after week.

"I suppose the team we've got to fixate on most now is ourselves and how we can draw improvement from our own performance.

"The division is littered with dangerous teams, so yeah, that's a tough start, but there'll be no simple games."

Derry's Dr McKenna Cup campaign ended with a defeat to a strong Donegal side at the semi-final stage, but Meenagh was able to welcome back all-star midfielder Conor Glass.

Derry were also without the Slaughtneil duo of Shane McGuigan and Brendan Rogers who were given a break after their club's run to the All-Ireland club hurling semi-final.

"We were probably missing a number of those players that we would look towards in that case, and Conor Glass was only to play 40 minutes the night just to get him back up and running."