Fermanagh will travel to Ballybofey next Wednesday night as underdogs when they take on Donegal in the Ulster U21 Championship but manager Vinny Connolly feels that it is set to be a tight battle.

Connolly was a late appointment to the post, taking over the reins from Malachy Cullen, but he states that the players have worked hard over the last eight weeks and are ready for the challenge that Donegal will present.

“It is going to be a tough battle but the boys are all up for it and they have been a great group to work with. They have trained hard since we started out eight weeks ago and we’ll be going there to try and win the game. It is tough for any team to go to Ballybofey but we are prepared for that and I think that whoever wins the game won’t win it by much. At minor level the games between the sides have been close,” he said.

There has been some encouraging performances from the squad in recent challenge matches with the side producing wins over Antrim, Sligo and Monaghan.

Donegal are likely to provide a step up for Fermanagh next Wednesday night and under the management of Maxi Curran and former Fermanagh star Rory Gallagher, who were both part of Jim McGuinness’ management team that won the senior All Ireland two years ago, they will be well prepared.

And in Paddy McBrearty they have one of the top forwards in the country at their disposal. McBrearty played a big part in that All Ireland success in 2012 and is a player that will have to be watched closely by the Ernemen while Ryan McHugh is going to be another key performer for Donegal, McHugh having broken into the senior side over the last year.

Connolly though has plenty of quality to call on himself with this group of players having travelled to Celtic Park as minors and knocked Derry out of the championship. Five of his squad are currently involved in Pete McGrath’s senior outfit and they are going to have big roles to play on Wednesday night.

In defence Connolly will be looking for the likes of senior panellists Lee Cullen, Che Cullen, who is expected to have recovered from a broken bone in the hand, and Niall Shannon to curb the influence of McBrearty and company while Derrylin’s Louis Leonard is another to have caught the eye in the half back line.

Fermanagh will need to be competitive in the middle of the park and Ryan Lyons has been impressive in this area where he is likely to be joined by Ryan Hyde.

Fermanagh will then hope that they have the forwards to trouble Donegal. Captain Ruairi Corrigan is a key man at centre half forward while the side will look to Edddie Courtney and Colleges All Star Eoin McManus for scores.

“It is a game the boys are looking forward to,” said Connolly. “We know Donegal will be dangerous with players like McBrearty but hopefully we will be able to handle him and then cause them problems of our own.” Fermanagh’s last victory at this level arrived five years ago when they defeated Monaghan under the management of Darren Chapman and Connolly will be keen to see the county returning to winning ways.

It is going to take a big performance from Fermanagh next Wednesday night if they are to progress to the semi-finals but if they can keep things tight early and limit the influence of McBrearty then they will give themselves a chance of going through.