Down captain Benny Coulter says he will not stand in Marty Clarke's way if he decides to return to the AFL.

Clarke will fly out to Australia after Saturday's Ulster SFC quarter-final against Armagh for a short break - fuelling speculation that he is set to hold talks with his former club Collingwood about rejoining them at the end of this year.

But Coulter says he will respect whatever decision the An Riocht man arrives at.

"There's no impact on us. As a panel, we know where Marty stands and we back him fully," he told the Irish Examiner.

"It's a nice place to live and if he does go back it will be our loss, but I guarantee you every lad will shake his hand and wish him well. Hopefully, he'll do the business if he does go back there. If he doesn't go then great, hopefully he'll win things with us, but there's no problem. We all know Marty's situation." Tweet

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