Pete McGrath says that if his side can learn the lessons from the Donegal game then they will have every chance of producing an upset in Castlebar against Mayo in the next round of the All Ireland Qualifiers.
And the Fermanagh boss states that part of the lessons to come out of Ballybofey in the Ulster quarter-final defeat is that they cannot afford to show a lack of belief or any self doubt.
He does though believe that the games against Donegal this year and Monaghan last year, two teams he feels are right up there with Mayo as among the top sides in the country, show that if his side can get it right, then they will have every chance of winning the game.
“There’s no doubt that the draw against Mayo represents a very tough game, a very challenging game, but it is there and what we all have to do, management and players alike, is to just ensure that physically we are ready to play it, as we will be. We have to ask ourselves is this a game that we think we can win? If we think it’s a game we can win then obviously that means that we have to approach it in a very determined, confident and positive frame of mind.”
And he feels that if they are to put it up to the Mayomen then they have to closely study the game against Donegal. 
“We have to seriously look at the Donegal game. We talked about aspects of the Donegal game as we moved towards the Wexford game but if you were to name the top four or five teams in the country now, or over this last four or five years, Donegal would be up there along with Mayo. So, whatever lessons are there from the Donegal game, now more than ever they have to be factored in and taken on board because if we go to Mayo and maybe show the same lack of maturity or at times lack of belief, if those things surface again against Mayo, then we will get the same result as we got against Donegal. We want to show that we are not a lightweight team and that we can punch with the big guys. It’s all about confidence and belief but then we said that prior to the Donegal game and maybe there were things in the Donegal game which punched holes in our confidence and we have to try and put those into focus, talk about them and put it behind us.
“There is a great opportunity here to really, really put on the table the lessons from the Donegal game and the question is can we really learn from those things that happened and those things that didn’t happen. There is no doubt that on that day the better team won but to an extent we had that feeling that maybe we left this game behind a wee bit and I would know that last year, the Monaghan game was also a game that maybe got away from us. We didn’t feel that we were that far away from Monaghan and Donegal, and you would say that those two teams are not that far away from Mayo. In fact you could say Donegal are right up there with Mayo because they have won an All Ireland over this last couple of years. So, for me, this is not David and Goliath, the media might put it that way, but not as far as I’m concerned.”
He stresses though that it is essential that Fermanagh go into the game in the right frame of mind and that they relish the opportunity and the challenge.
“I think a game like this for any team represents opportunity. Some people can look at a game, say against Kerry or Dublin, and would say ‘that’s the last thing you want’ while other people will say ‘ isn’t this a marvellous opportunity to go and show people exactly where we now are’ and that has to be the mindset that we take into this game and the mindset to nurture and develop over the next week and half,” he added.
Mayo are likely to be hurting after their defeat to Galway in the Connacht semi-final and Fermanagh could well be facing a wounded animal. McGrath though is only focusing on get his own side ready for the challenge.
“Any team coming off the back of a hurtful defeat  there is always that possibility that that team will be keen to put the record straight. I still feel that whatever way Mayo are feeling, we can do nothing about that, we have to fully concentrate on what our approach will be to this game and to clearly identify that this is another opportunity for our players to show that we are serious team,” he said.
Fermanagh set up the Mayo game with a win over Wexford in Wexford Park on Saturday and McGrath felt that his side had allowed Wexford too much time and space in the first half of the game but was pleased with the second half display as his side took control of matters to push on for the victory.
“We knew going down there that Wexford would be energetic, would be committed, they would be well organised and they were all those things.
“The first half was very open and we maybe gave them a lot latitude coming out of defence, we allowed them to run the ball way to easily. We did go in a point up at half time but we then fell behind by a point early in the second half. It was then though that we answered the call.”
McGrath felt that his side played more to their capabilities during the final 25 minutes of the game as they pulled away to secure the win.
“We played more like we are capable of playing, we got on the ball more, got a lot more fluency in our game and the scores started to come.
“I think once we went four or five points ahead, even though they brought it back to three, we were generally controlling the game and playing with a lot more conviction than we had for stretches in the first half,” he commented.
He accepts though that against Mayo, his side will have to be at the races right from the first ball.
“Against Mayo we need to be in the groove very early, you certainly wouldn’t want to be waiting for about 20 minutes to get up and running because you could be out the gate at that stage,” he said.