Graham Geraghty reckons "things have gone stale for Donegal".

The Tir Chonaill men will appear in their sixth successive Ulster SFC final tomorrow, but Meath legend Geraghty expects a fresher Tyrone team to prevail.

"The bulk of their team have been at it for five or six hard years and it's hard to keep it up at that level for so long," the 1999 All-Ireland winning captain says of Donegal in his Irish Sun column.

"It's all fine looking at these players on the pitch and judging performances on match day, but you don't see the commitment that's involved behind the scenes. I don't think this Donegal team has the appetite for it any more whereas the younger players from Tyrone haven't the same success and they want it.

"Donegal look to be in a similar state to Mayo. Plenty of their main men have been on the go a long time and they were lucky to get out Castlebar (with a win over Fermanagh) last weekend.

"Players used to be able to play on for about 15 years. These days a player is very lucky if he gets 10. Modern players are pushing their bodies to extremes they aren't built for.

"You can see it with Michael Murphy, who's playing quite well but probably not to the same standard as previous years. Odhran Mac Niallais has been a breath of fresh air in the Donegal attack. But a lot responsibility still comes down to Murphy.

"Where to play him is still a big question - whether at centre forward of full forward, you could end up robbing Peter to pay Paul. Tyrone are fresher and hungrier. That, combined with their style of attacking on the break, should see them win out."

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