Donegal defender Karl Lacey says the hurt from their Ulster SFC semi-final defeat to Tyrone should provide them with plenty incentive for Saturday's Qualifier against Longford.

Rory Gallagher's side went down by nine points to the Red Hands in Clones two weeks ago, denying them a seventh provincial final appearance in a row, and Lacey expects a response against the Midlanders this weekend.

"Their heads were down after the game," he told the Donegal Democrat this week.

"You could see it was a shock to the system. It was not expected, by everybody. This week we have re-gathered our thoughts; we spoke a lot between ourselves as players, as management. We trained very well this week and we have another week to Longford on Saturday.

"And once we get on to that pitch, there will be a wee bit of hurt showing, and we'll get stuck into Longford, which is not going to be easy. But hopefully, come 7 o'clock on Saturday evening we will be into the draw for the next round of the Qualifiers, and the only way is up from there."

He added: "Thankfully we got the home draw and we're in Ballybofey again where we have a good record. It was probably something we needed after Tyrone to get our heads right again.

"It will not be easy. We have seen what Longford can do and what they did in the Qualifiers last year. We're aware of that but a lot is going to be down to our own individual performances and our team performance."

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