THE hand of Donegal manager Rory Gallagher has been significantly weakened with the news Leo McLoone has opted out for the coming season.
It is understood the 27-year-old experienced and versatile Naomh Conaill player has not specified the reasons for his unavailability at this stage. McLoone was a regular during the reign of Jim McGuinness as Donegal boss, and won an All-Ireland medal in 2012.
He has also won three Ulster SFC medals with his native county. His championship outings last season, however, were limited to three appearances from the bench, one of which was in the first round against Fermanagh when he scored two points.
In total, he played 12 times throughout the season. Seven of those appearances were starts - three coming in the McKenna Cup and four in the league. The rest were as a sub in the league and championship.
It is not the first occasion on which McLoone has opted out of the Donegal panel, as he also took a break for the first half of the 2015 season. He reappeared the week before that year’s Ulster final meeting with Monaghan.
