Michael Murphy has accused his former Donegal team-mate Kevin Cassidy of "stepping out of line" by criticising aspects of the county set-up in a recent book.

Backing manager Jim McGuinness' decision to axe Cassidy from his squad, the Donegal captain reveals in today's Irish Examiner that he hasn't spoken to the All-Star defence since he went again the team management's wishes by contributing to Declan Bogue's book 'This Is Our Year'.

Asked if he would like to see Cassidy return to the panel, Murphy said: "Ah no, no. Jim had to make the decision and the county had to make the decision and that was the decision made. Kevin stepped out of line and that was agreed on by everyone. That was unfortunate but we're looking forward to a new season and we're looking forward to rowing in behind everybody again and getting on with it."

Murphy believes the bond, which Cassidy broke, was one of the main reasons why 2011 was Donegal's best season since 1992.

"It was a good feeling being united," he continued.

"Any team you go and play for has to be united and thankfully this year a group of fellas came together and rowed in behind one another. That might have pulled us through a lot of the year and we're hoping to carry that on into next year." Tweet

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