One of the few positives to come out of Sunday’s defeat to Cork for Fermanagh was that Ryan Jones got game time under his belt, coming on at half time to make his first appearance in the green jersey this season.

Injuries have kept the Derrygonnelly man on the sidelines and he admits it is still a case of managing them but he is hopeful that the worst of it is behind him and that he can help Fermanagh over the remainder of the league and into the championship.

“I haven’t played since we lost in the Ulster Club on October 30 and it has been frustrating. There has been a couple of things that have cropped up in terms of injury and not everything is cleared up yet but we have to a stage were we can manage it. It is about tailoring the training to what the body is saying,” he said.

While the break was a forced one because of the injuries, Jones does admit that it was one that he maybe needed after two years of solid football.

“The last two years I’ve had long seasons because we have been going well with the club and the county have been going well and I probably haven’t had a break in a right while so from that point of view I was welcoming the break and I suppose you have to take the positives in that way,” he added.

It is now back to action though and while he got more game time than he might have expected on Sunday, he is hoping for further time on the pitch this weekend when Fermanagh take on Kildare.

“From my own point of view I didn’t feel too bad considering I only really had two collective training sessions under my belt with the team. You build fitness up quick enough and a half like that will bring me on a lot and hopefully I will see more game time this weekend,” he said.

Fermanagh had started the league campaign with high hopes of promotion but back to back defeats have them concerning themselves with matters at the other end of the table.

Jones feel though it is about taking it one game at a time and focusing on getting a performance.

“You have to take it game by game and at the moment we have to forget about promotion, forget about relegation and forget about fixtures down the line. Kildare is a game that we need to be solely focusing on and we have to make sure that we get a performance first and foremost because we haven’t got performances in the last two games. It is about breaking it down, making sure that we get a performance and that everybody is tuned in and you will often find that the result will take care of itself.”

It may also be a case of Fermanagh going back to basics and Jones feels it is crucial that they go back to doing the things that has served them so well over the last couple of years.

“We’ve been cut open a few times and I’m not blaming anybody for that but we have been getting away from what we have been strong at which is making sure that we have been tight and secure. Even against Down in the first half we were cut open a few times, Galway could have scored a few goals and Cork could as well. You have to be strong from the back right out and I’m sure that’s what we’ll be working on at training.

“Also going forward we have to start attacking better as a unit. We were maybe going as individuals at times on Sunday and getting turned over. There wasn’t support coming off the shoulder and that’s what our game is based on. Pete has mentioned that after the last few games that our game is a running game and I think for some reason we have fell back a wee bit on that aspect and we need to get that back,” he commented.

Kildare had made a great start to the campaign, winning their opening two games before losing to Derry last week. And the Derrygonnelly man knows it is going to be a tough test in Newbridge although he believes it is one they can win.

“Kildare won their opening two games and they were beating Derry until a late goal. Pete watched them against Meath in Navan and they were very convincing so they seem to be a team on the up and have a lot of young players coming through.

“In saying that, I still think we have the winning of the game in our changing room if we can get our own performance right. We’ll be analysing aspects of their game but I think more so we need to focus on ourselves and our performance,” he stated.

And he knows that a win on Sunday would change the complexion of things for Fermanagh with a lot of football yet to be played.

“Division Two is always competitive and everyone is beating everyone and if we get the win which we are aiming for then you are looking up again. For the moment though we are in a tricky position and we need to make sure that we start picking up points or else we will be going into the last few games fighting relegation and that’s not a situation we wanted at the start of the year.

It is still all to play for really both for promotion and making sure you stay in the division and every team will know that.”