Carlow captain Mark Carpenter believes his side couldn't have asked for a tougher draw in the All-Ireland qualifiers than Donegal away, but expects them to be competitive in Ballybofey next month nonetheless. Luke Dempsey's team face an uphill battle against a Donegal side who will be keen to put their shocking defeat at the hands of Antrim behind them when they welcome the Barrowsiders to MacCumhaill Park. "It wasn't a great draw," said Carpenter. "In terms of an away draw it is probably the worst one we could have got. We'll have a long journey to travel now. "There were three teams in that we would have preferred not to get - Armagh, Monaghan and Donegal. Even if we got Armagh away there would have been an attraction to it because they were the All-Ireland champions and all." The Carlow squad has resumed training this week and will be aiming to stop a result like the 3-15 to 0-5 humiliating defeat when the two teams last met a couple of years ago in the NFL from happening again. "We'll go in and try to be competitive. I remember the last time we played Donegal in Ballybofey we were beaten in the first ten minutes," said Carpenter "They were a Division One side this year as well and we were a Division Four side. They'll also be out to rectify their name after the Antrim defeat so we've just got to try and concentrate on where we are and stay competitive until the last few minutes and if we are who knows." Tweet

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