Brendan Devenney believes Donegal have become a better team under Rory Gallagher.
Gallagher had big boots to fill when he replaced 2012 All-Ireland winning manager Jim McGuinness at the end of last year, but the Fermanagh man has proven himself to be up to the task by masterminding impressive Ulster SFC victories over both Tyrone and Armagh in recent weeks.
"I'd a huge fear it would fall apart when McGuinness left. And it was like the Alex Ferguson thing, who is going to come in," former Donegal star Devenney said at the launch of eircom's GAA hub in Dublin yesterday.
"When Gallagher was named, my immediate reaction was 'perfect, because he knows the whole game inside out and how to steady the ship.' But if anything he has looked at it and improved things.
"This is Rory's team now. Up until the Armagh game everybody had been giving McGuinness the credit for all this, but after the Armagh game it became Rory's team. He deserves huge credit."
The St. Eunan's clubman expects the Tir Chonaill men to march into another Ulster final at Derry's expense on Saturday night.
"No, Derry won't ask questions of Donegal. They're physical. Mark Lynch and Eoin Bradley will ask questions because they're the two main men. Donegal will put Neil McGee on Bradley. Lynch is an awesome player but he needs that bit of room. Donegal won't allow that," Devenney continued.
"They're [Derry] lacking in confidence from the league. That's why they sat in against Down. If they beat Down convincingly… imagine the Derry players sitting at home watching that Donegal performance, in Armagh's home patch. It's difficult to get your mind around then that you're going to beat them."
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