Declan Bonner believes Michael Murphy is on course for a Donegal return for Sunday's Ulster SFC preliminary round clash with Down in Newry.
It is a boost for last year's beaten Ulster finalists to have Murphy back after he suffered a hamstring problem early in the League draw with Monaghan last month.
However Odhran MacNiallais, who has returned to the Tir Chonaill set-up after two years away, is not available for another fortnight after picking up an injury.
"Michael is not far away at this stage,” said Donegal supremo Bonner today. “We’d be very hopeful that he will be available for Sunday.
"We train tonight and train Thursday night. The majority of guys are back on the pitch.
"Michael has been back over the last week and we’re hopeful he is going to be okay and ready to go.
“We’ll make our decision after those two training sessions but at the minute he’s good to go.
"Odhran will not be part of the weekend. He picked up a soft tissue injury against Dublin in the first half, so he'll not be in contention, but there could be a few surprises come this weekend."
