Donegal have sent a "warning signal" beyond Ulster following their Ulster Championship semi-final win over Armagh at Kingspan Breffni Park, according to former Armagh footballer Aaron Kernan.
Although Armagh struggled throughout the 1-22 to 0-13 loss, Donegal were hugely impressive as 13 different scorers fired in points for Declan Bonner's side.
Speaking to OTB Sports' Daithi Boland after the match, Kernan noted Donegal's ability to totally nullify Armagh.
"I have to say they were very impressive. They sent out a warning signal probably beyond Ulster at this stage.
"They will be red hot favorites heading into the Ulster final next week," the Crossmaglen Rangers man added.
While Donegal's performance can be offset against the poor showing from Kieran McGeeney's team, Kernan added that Donegal may still be the team best placed to trouble Dublin.
"It was probably too easy for them but they fully exploited it.
"You'd see them as a team that are well capable of posing Dublin plenty of questions in a few weeks' time."
Although Donegal star Michael Murphy was kept to scoring solely from frees, Kernan pointed to the importance of his influence beyond scoring.
"He was the target man and what he did was he was drawing all the Armagh players' attention; everyone was funneling towards him and he wasn't even really winning ball cleanly, but it was breaking away from him to the Donegal forwards running through.
"It's just how cute he is. His use of possession, the amount of people he draws with him frees up space. And that suits Donegal perfectly because that's exactly what they have, the fast runners coming off the shoulder who can kick scores.
"The pace, the power, the physicality of them. They are very good on their own kick-outs but also they were hugely impressive on Armagh's kick-outs and they completely nullified them.
"They just took sections of the field and they just put them under so much pressure and that's what you need particularly in the likes of Croke Park, competing against your Dublin's of the world, and Donegal can do that."
Donegal will face either Cavan or Down in the Ulster Championship final next Sunday.
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