It is a case of de ja vu for Fermanagh when they square off against Kildare in Navan on Saturday evening. 
Ten years ago after the heart break of losing a provincial final Fermanagh faced Kildare in the last 12 in Croke Park. 
The game did not go according to plan and the Erne men exited tamely. This time around Fermanagh fans will be hoping for a different outcome.

Shaun Doherty was a player in that 08 team and he remembers how difficult it was for he and his team-mates to get themselves mentally ready for the game against Kildare. 
Then, Fermanagh had six days but this year they have 13 and Doherty feels that could prove a big difference:
“I think the extra break will help the players. Back in 08 you had three or four days of being very down in the dumps and you were not in the right frame of mind at all.
“The Kildare game was almost upon you before you even thought about it,” he said before adding:
“Now I would imagine Rory has gave the boys three of four days off and then brought them back in and that still leaves six or seven days to fit in a couple of real good sessions with them and more importantly get the heads right for the next game.”
While much of the talk will be about how Fermanagh prepare for this fixture mentally Doherty believes that for Kildare things are not going to be straight forward in that department either:
“Kildare have the momentum now, especially with that win over Mayo. 
“But I suppose Monaghan were similar after they put in a massive effort against Tyrone but then they found it hard to maintain that level against us the next day. 
“The same might be true of Kildare and it will be difficult for them to rise themselves to that level again for the second week in a row,” Doherty explained. 

Now a respected coach and working for Fermanagh GAA the Kinawley man believes that Fermanagh’s style is going to be a problem for the Lilywhites:
“The question is how Kildare can fair against a team who are very good defensively and who have that tough set up. 
“They struggled against Carlow and were beaten. Now, obviously they are a different team now but the thing about Mayo is that they are quite an open team and go out and play very attacking football. It will be different for Kildare against Fermanagh,” he said, although Doherty does believe that Fermanagh will have to be more expansive:
“You don’t just want to frustrate them and keep it very tight. We do need to add a bit more offensive power and a bit more speed into the attack but Fermanagh will want to make things very hard for the Kildare forwards and really frustrate them.”
In terms of Fermanagh’s defeat to Donegal Doherty believes that it is important not to read too much into one poor performance:
“In 08 we were devastated because we were so close. 
Against Donegal this year Fermanagh were well beat but I think the performance was very uncharacteristic and one defeat does not change the good year. 
“This platform of a strong defence has given us success and if we can improve in attack then I think we will be very close,” explained the Kinawley club man.