The leadership and experience of some of Cork footballers' older players is invaluable going forward, according to Kevin O'Driscoll.

Speaking to the Southern Star the talented defender has pleaded with the likes of Donncha O'Connor, Alan O'Connor and Patrick Kelly to stay on in the squad for at least another year.

The Rebels' year came to an end last weekend when Donegal defeated them in the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers.

As always, the talk of who will retire or who will stay on has started and O'Driscoll feels that if they can keep the squad together, they can push on next year.

"The young fellas have upped the competition for places on the team and on the panel, and they have driven on the older fellas," said O'Driscoll.

"I hope that the older fellas will stick with it now because there is the nucleus of a good team here, and we need their leadership to help the younger fellas coming through and to help gel it all together. It's not all doom and gloom.

"They have a lot of time put in to this but if I was to sit down and talk to them, I'd ask them to give it one more year. They are huge leaders in this team, whether it's starting, coming off the bench or chatting to the younger fellas. Even on Friday, they were talking to the younger fellas on the team; that experience is invaluable."

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