Ulster SFC: Aidan O'Rourke says Paddy Carr urged him to take Donegal interim job

Aidan O'Rourke is being assisted by Paddy Bradley after agreeing to become interim manager following Paddy Carr's dramatic departure last month

Interim Donegal football manager Aidan O'Rourke says Paddy Carr told him to accept the position after his dramatic resignation from the role.

With relegation to Division Two already effectively sealed, Carr quit on 23 March after what he described as a "discussion" with some senior players.

Donegal suffered a further big loss in Roscommon and have since been preparing for Sunday's Ulster SFC tie in Newry.

"He (Paddy) felt continuity was best for the team," O'Rourke told BBC Sport.

The 2002 Armagh All-Ireland winner said he had to give the matter "a fair bit" of thought before agreeing to move up from his previous coach's role to take the manager's post on an interim basis, with Paddy Bradley also agreeing to stay on after being part of Carr's backroom team.

"Paddy Carr probably dictated where that went in terms of what was best for the group. Paddy, at the bottom of it all, is a huge Donegal man," added O'Rourke.

Paddy Carr's resignation appeared to be player-driven

Donegal have 'worked hard' since relegation

Despite that obvious turbulence in the Donegal squad with Carr's departure appearing to have been player-driven, O'Rourke says that the squad members have "worked hard" over the last three weeks since the conclusion of the hugely disappointing League campaign.

"There was a lot of disappointment with the National League campaign, a bit of frustration from the players with themselves but a new focus with the championship was probably refreshing.

"The players have been fairly focused and they are working very hard."

And despite Donegal's recent turmoil, O'Rourke says the squad will go into the championship believing that they will again be genuine candidates for the provincial title after the county reached 10 of the last 12 Ulster Finals, which includes five triumphs since 2011.

"The month ahead of us is the Ulster Championship and there isn't really anybody that we don't feel we can beat. That opens up a lot of possibilities.

"The potential is in the group. The last month or so has been really positive from that perspective in terms of trying to knit everything together.

"Ultimately we need to produce that on the pitch and Sunday is about trying to do that better than we have done earlier in the season.

"I have a lot of belief in the individual ability of the team and the squad. The big challenge for ourselves is to try and produce a team performance out of that."

Many fancy Down to beat Donegal

O'Rourke believes that the players have been "blocking out the noise" which has enveloped Donegal football in recent weeks, with the saga over Karl Lacey's departure from the position of county Academy chief also having been another controversy which the county's GAA board has had to grapple with.

Skipper Patrick McBrearty will miss Sunday's game at Pairc Esler as he continues to recover from hamstring surgery but O'Rourke is optimistic that the Kilcar man will be "available soon enough".

His club-mate Ryan McHugh ruled himself out of the championship campaign earlier this month because of work commitments abroad, having already missed the entire league because of injury.

Shane O'Donnell and Niall O'Donnell are also currently absentees from the Donegal squad while in addition, O'Rourke has injury concerns over Oisin Gallen and Peadar Mogan for Sunday's contest.

However, the Donegal squad still includes plenty of experienced campaigners in addition to some new players attempting to make an impact in the inter-county game.

"There's a massive opportunity for some younger players who have a huge potential. It's about grasping their opportunity and putting their best foot forward," added O'Rourke.

But while Down failed to get out of Division Three in Conor Laverty's first season in charge, there is a widespread view that they will have a great chance of taking Donegal's scalp, having made obvious progress since the Kilcoo man took over last autumn.