Jim McGuinness has paid tribute to Paddy McBrearty after the Kilcar forward was forced to retire from inter-county football on medical grounds.

McGuinness handed McBrearty his senior debut as a teenager in 2011 – the year before he led Donegal to All-Ireland glory – and appointed him captain last season when the Tir Chonaill men just fell short in their quest to regain the Sam Maguire.

"Paddy has been just immense for Donegal and we wish him well in his retirement," McGuinness told BBC NI after Sunday's Dr McKenna Cup victory over Antrim.

"It's unfortunate, we communicated a lot in the off-season and we tried to do as much as we could to see if we could find a solution for him.

"It's just a medical decision and it's disappointing because I would say he would love to have given it another rattle but these things happen in football.

"We need to take a step back from that and think about what he did achieve and how young he was when in there for a number of games. It's going to take a toll at some stage and he probably is the most decorated player in the county, so he got a good innings, but he probably would have loved to have had one more go at it."

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