On Sunday morning, the Donegal lads will journey down through Sligo and east Mayo, clear road all the way save the few out for early Mass. Winter's quiet will follow them along the road until they hit Tuam, a heartland still aglow after Galway's reawakening.

It is the champions' first competitive outing on home soil in many months, a homecoming of sorts. Locally, an extension of the party is expected; the fans want a nice November reprise of the total football which overwhelmed Kildare in September. If it is to be at Donegal's expense, so be it.

"For us, it's just a matter of treating it as another game. Obviously, Galway deserve respect after what they've achieved, but we can't stand back in awe of them. We are a young team and it's possible that we could freeze - but hopefully that won't happen," said Damien Diver from his home in Ardara.

Diver holds a curious position in the hierarchy of Donegal football, he is still only 24 yet one of the more recognisable figures. The links with the landmark year of 1992 are more tenuous than ever; Noel Hegarty lines out as the sole survivor of that All-Ireland-winning team. This is a new time.

"I suppose it's a wee bit strange for me alright," says Diver. "I mean, I don't have a wild lot of experience but I have been playing in defence longer than the other lads, except for Noel, of course. But I really think a team can overcome inexperience with a bit of bite, and this is a hungry team."

Although Donegal qualified for the National League semi-final last spring, their preparations for this year's campaign were stalked by injury, forcing manager Declan Bonner to opt for a radical line-up.

"And we were nervous, to be honest, at the thought of this Armagh team coming down to Ballybofey with big names and a full team. But they never really clicked and the new lads we had rose to the occasion," said Diver.

Since Bonner took charge at the beginning of the 1997, Diver, like the rest of the Donegal squad, has been indoctrinated in the merits of winter football.

"He has always been hugely positive about it. Winning is a habit. We'd love to win the competition. Last year, we played maybe our best game against Offaly in the semi-final and it was frustrating to lose. But the run set us up for the championship, even though we finished so disappointingly against Derry."

It was Diver's first senior Ulster final, a dour fretful occasion which, he says, just passed by him.

"Afterwards I just sat there, wondering what had happened. We were terrible, trying to defend the lead we had I suppose. I remember being out around the 45 for the goal when McGonigle tipped the ball on to Brolly. Once he got hold of it, I knew we were done."

He didn't watch Derry against Galway in the semi-final, never was one for spectating.

"I didn't even see the final this year. I was never into watching football. People ask me who my idols were when I was young - I didn't know any to have. You see these kids who can list off county teams, I find that amazing. I was just into playing the game and only got really serious when we won the Ulster minors in 1991."

Even then, he was tipped a real contender, an athletic flier who led a talented Ardara team to a string of underage titles. In 1992, Donegal broke historic tradition and although Diver was swept along on the brief wave of euphoria, reality had settled by the time he forged a steady place.

So far he has laboured impressively as Donegal seek to rebuild. "We're becoming a settled team, the signs are there. You come along to training now and there may be hail and wind, but it's good craic. The lads are happy to be there. That matters."