Paul Devlin has quit the Down football panel in frustration at a lack of game time.

The Kilcoo attacker claims he has been made feel like an 'outcast' under manager Eamonn Burns after seeing only 35 minutes of action as a substitute against Galway, Derry and Meath in the Mourne County's recent Allianz League campaign.

"I spoke to Eamonn a few times and he said that I just needed to take my chance when I got it," Devlin told the Belfast Telegraph. 

"But in three months of football, I played only 35 minutes all in."

Having been a regular under previous managers James McCartan and Jim McCorry, Devlin wasn't prepared to sit on the bench any longer.

"At the end of the day, it is football. I want to be playing and if you are not getting football you are obviously not happy," he continued.

"Sometimes, the way football goes, you can't dwell on it too much. You just have to take a step back and see where you can get the best out of yourself. If you are not enjoying it, if you are not getting game time, you are safer going back to your club where you can get football and start enjoying the game.

"I love putting on the Down jersey, but for the last year and the year before, I was one of the regular starters. And to be made like an outcast, I just felt that it was time to take a break from the county panel."

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