Captain McBrearty dreams of lifting Sam for Donegal

Patrick McBrearty's sole focus is on Sunday's final and not the 'circus' around it

Donegal captain Patrick McBrearty said it would be a "dream" to lift Sam Maguire, but insists he is not looking past the challenge of Kerry in Sunday's final.

The Kilcar man was an integral part of Donegal's 2012 triumph and was also involved when they fell short in the 2014 final against Kerry.

Donegal have failed to get back to the big day since, but the return of Jim McGuinness for his second stint as manager has injected new life into the county.

During McGuinness' first tenure, Donegal reached an All-Ireland semi-final in his first year and went all the way in his second. While all in Donegal are hoping lightning is about to strike twice following last year's semi-final loss, McBrearty is ignoring the outside noise and focussing only on the 70 minutes ahead.

"It's every young lad's dream but there's a game to be won yet," the 31-year-old said about the prospect of climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand.

"It's a game of football at the end of the day. There's a big circus around the whole thing but we just put our heads down and get ready to go.

"There was a barren period there. We got Jim back there and last year, we lost in the second last hurdle and then last Sunday, we got over that hurdle and are in the big one now."

A young McBrearty (right) celebrates Donegal's 2012 triumph with Paddy McGrath

One of the young guns in 2012 and '14, McBrearty is now one of the experienced figures in the Donegal dressing room alongside Michael Murphy who was captain when they lifted Sam in the first of those finals.

"I'm very lucky with the time I came into the panel with the management involved and some of the team-mates I got to play with," said the current captain.

"You're only as good as the lads around you, so I'm very fortunate to be the young lad coming in and at 31, still at it."

As the years pass, so too does the window for success and while the 2014 loss to Kerry still stings in Tir Chonaill, this weekend they have the opportunity to make up for it.

However, toppling the Kingdom is no easy task and with a star-studded cast in the Cliffords - David and Paudie - and Sean O'Shea to name a few.

McBrearty knows it will take Donegal's best performance of the season to secure a third title in their history.

"These boys have contested lots of finals and they will have a hunger.

"They have a couple of exceptional players in their ranks there. They got a bit of criticism down in their own county, but they are there on merit and a top team, so we're going to have our work cut out."

Watch the All-Ireland final on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website from 15:00 BST on Sunday