The Donegal manager won't dwell on six-day syndrome, preferring to talk up his team's survival to the sharp end of the summer, writes Ian O'Riordan

The obvious drawback about coming through the All-Ireland qualifiers remains the breakneck speed at which games can approach, as Donegal discover in Croke Park tomorrow (4pm). Just six days after they battled past Fermanagh in the round-four qualifier they face Cork, who have been re-energising for three weeks since their Munster final win over Kerry.

In recent years teams have responded differently to the "six-day syndrome", mainly depending on whether they were coming off victory or defeat. Two years back, Limerick folded in their fourth-round qualifier six days after their Munster final replay loss to Kerry. Last year though, Tyrone defied the laws of recovery, beating Armagh in the All-Ireland semi-final just seven days after their quarter-final win over Dublin.

It's clear how Donegal manager Brian McIver sees the challenge. Speaking en route to Donegal training last evening, he'd already made up his mind the short recovery won't be used as any excuse should they lose.

"It's very tight, no doubt about that," he said. "And maybe six days' recovery as opposed to two weeks can make a difference . . . if I had any say in this I'd have asked for two weeks. But my only concern this week has been making sure the team recovers as much as possible. On Tuesday, for example, we did nothing more than shake out some of the stiffness. And Thursday's only about doing a small bit of sharpness work.

"So to be honest the only way I'm looking at this is that we're heading to Croke Park on Saturday, and there are 24 other teams in the country that aren't.

"You can easily get caught up in the negatives. But I'm only looking on the plus side. We're delighted to be playing in such a big game in August, when so many other teams are done for the year."

McIver hasn't gambled either on trying to gain any extra edge in the six days: "The other thing to remember is that we did play a good, hard, physical game last Sunday, and that can be as good as two or three hard training sessions rolled together.

"So there wouldn't be any great need to do a whole lot this week anyway beyond keeping them ticking over. There were a few aches and pains floating around . . . but hopefully all the players will have got that out of their system by Sunday.

"Our physical trainer Ryan Porter is also qualified in sports science, and he's given us plenty of advice on the best things to eat and drink this week."

Yet another disadvantage with the short turnover is that Donegal haven't had much time to do their homework on Cork.

Again McIver won't be using that as an excuse.

"All I've seen of Cork so far is what most of the country has seen, in terms of the highlights on The Sunday Game. I just haven't had the chance to sit down and study them in detail.

"Having said that, I'm well aware of their strengths . . . I've done as much homework on them as I can, but the bottom line is Cork are a very fine side and we'll have to play very well to beat them."

The one advantage they do have over Cork is the experience of playing in Croke Park in recent weeks, even if that meant losing the Ulster final to Armagh.

Free-taker Michael Doherty, who has been absent recently with a knee injury, could also figure in McIver's plans.

"I know that all the players were very keen to get back to Croke Park after their defeat in the Ulster final. So it's nice to be going back there now as quickly as we are, especially with such a young side.

"Michael trained with us last week, and did a good bit of work, and I have to say he was moving well again on Tuesday night. So unless there's been a reaction since, I'd be very hopeful of Michael starting . . . and he's a huge addition obviously."

Some might feel Donegal won't have needed much time for recovery given the stop-start nature of their win last Sunday, but McIver rejects the suggestion it was some kind of soft game - even if the quality of football was less than dazzling.

"I don't think people took into consideration all the factors. That was our sixth meeting with Fermanagh in six seasons, so both of us knew each other very, very well.

"There was also a swirling breeze that I think dictated the type of game both teams had to play . . . and Enniskillen is a very, very tight pitch. Days like that can really dictate the type of game that's played.

"Now, as in all championship football, it's impossible to predict what type of game Donegal and Cork will come up with at the weekend. If conditions are good and both teams play open football I expect quite a high scoring game. But if it's windy we could just as easily have a desperate, tight game dominated by defences."