Jim McGuinness has given Kevin Cassidy an inter-county lifeline by suggesting he would be willing to welcome the player back into the Donegal football panel.
McGuinness dropped Cassidy from the 2012 panel as punishment for comments he made in relation to the 2010 management team as well as revealing dressing room secrets in the 'This Is Our Year' book.
Cassidy's contribution went against McGuinness' wishes that players refrain from disclosing details of Donegal's training session under his tenure and the manager took the decision to axe him from the panel for this year.
It was thought that Cassidy's inter-county career was over as a result, but McGuinness has revealed that the All-Star could be invited back at some stage in the future.
"I wouldn’t close the door, but the bottom line is this here — our rules and our parameters were very well defined and what happened was so far over the line in relation to our group... that’s all I can say on it," McGuinness clarified.
"It was just an issue that came up and had to be dealt with. It was dealt with at the time — we were very clear.
"That’s all I can say. I gave the player (Cassidy) my word that I wasn’t going to mention it and I’m not going to mention it."
Adrian Hanlon was dropped from the panel for a breach of discipline last season only to be invited to rejoin the squad earlier this month.