Mark McHugh says the prospect of rejoining the Donegal squad following his return from New York never "crossed my mind".

The 2012 All-Ireland winner shocked Donegal GAA fans when he quit the county panel just days after coming on as a substitute in their Allianz League Division 2 final defeat to Monaghan last April. He spent the summer in the US before returning home a few weeks ago.

But he feels it wouldn't have been right to rejoin his younger brother Ryan and the rest of the Donegal squad after opting out in mid-season.

"I don't think it would be fair on the players," he said at the launch of the Kilmacud Crokes FBD Sevens yesterday.

"Definitely not. You couldn't really go away for a whole summer and not train with the team and come back in and think you are good enough to take over another person's position, (someone) who has been playing and training all year.

"Jim (McGuinness) himself knew he couldn't ask me back in. It didn't cross my mind. People in the street say that to you but they don't know the ins and outs of what Gaelic football is these days. You can't go away for 10 weeks and not train."

The 2012 All Star revealed that spending time abroad was something he had always wanted to do.

"When I finish my career in however many years I'm going to look back and say, 'did I make the right call?' and not even that but 'have I any regrets at the end of it?'. If I didn't do it my main regret would have been not going away for the summer and enjoying myself and seeing a bit of the world.

"Now I can say that I have my All-Ireland medal and I've travelled to America and hopefully, there's more things to come down the line."

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