Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath is hoping that his side can make a swift return to winning ways when they travel to Pairc Ui Rinn to face Cork on Sunday.

Defeat the last day out to Galway was a bit of a blow to Fermanagh’s promotion hopes but McGrath is confident that they can get their push back on track on Leeside.

“It’s a game we need to win,” said McGrath. “The table is going to be stretched over the next two matches in terms of three or four hovering up around the top and three or four lingering at the bottom and you want to be in that top half so I think Sunday’s game is very significant in determining the landscape for the remainder of this campaign.”

Much like Galway, Cork will provide a formidable physical challenge for Fermanagh and the manager stresses that it is important that they get back to playing to their strengths.

“Cork are a big team, Simon (Bradley) watched them play Galway in the first league game and he said that they are every bit as big, if not bigger, than Galway and that will present challenges.

“It’s the old story, if you are dealing with a team who have more power than you physically then you have to run them and make the game as fast and as mobile as you can. That’s our aim and we have the players to do that. I just thought against Galway for periods of the game we were too cautious and we didn’t really run at them or take the game to them as often or effectively as we could. Against Cork we have to get back to that high tempo running football that we are best at,” he commented.

Fermanagh struggled on kick outs against Galway, especially in the second half and with Cork expected to provide a similar test in that middle third, McGrath states that it is something that they have worked on.

Galway’s dominance in that sector came after the harsh black card for captain Eoin Donnelly early in the game and his return will give the Ernemen a stronger platform in that area.

“You would like to think though with Eoin back in the team we will be stronger there although he is not going to singlehandedly deal with that issue.

“It is one of the things though that I feel we will have learned from the Galway game. Our kick out strategy in terms of the speed of the kick out and the awareness of the players, I think that let us down, and I don’t mean the goalkeeper but collectively, against Galway, and it’s something we have looked at,” said McGrath.

There is no doubt that the Galway defeat was a disappointing one for the players and management but McGrath says that they are looking forward to the Cork game as they try to make amends for that.

“The Galway game was disappointing in terms of the result, we know there may have been extenuating circumstances but never the less it was a home match and one that we had targeted to win and the fact that we fell short was disappointing.

“You have to pick yourself up though, which the boys have done, and look ahead and the Cork game is going to be a challenge. It is an away game against a big team but there is no doubt in my mind that if everyone is fit and well, it is a game that we certainly can win. We have to take the good things from the Galway game, particularly in the first half and put those things together with what we saw in the Down match. We will approach it positively and in a determined way and I have no doubt that it is a game that we can certainly take something out of,” he stressed.

And the Fermanagh manager states that he wants his players to play the game in Pairc Ui Rinn on their own terms.

“The challenge on Sunday is to make sure that our fingerprints are all over the game and that we play it on our terms. Cork are below us in the table and they will be looking for points but we will have to go very single-mindedly for what we want and if we impose that on Cork then I’m confident that we can get the win,” he added.

Donnelly’s return is an obvious boost for Fermanagh while the manager is also confident that Eoin McManus and Mickey Jones will be fit to return having missed out against Galway due to injury and illness. And McGrath is also hopeful that Derrygonnelly’s Ryan Jones will be able to play some part in the game.

“I would hope that Ryan will be able to take part in the game, not from the start but he could come into the game. We’re also hopeful that Mickey Jones and Eoin McManus will be available to it should leave us a strong hand to select from and that’s what you want,” he said.