Despite heading into the winter months, Fermanagh ladies captain Courteney Murphy admits that it is just good to be playing championship football no matter what time of the year it is.

Murphy and the Fermanagh side begin their Junior Championship journey when the travel to Louth to play Wicklow as they look to go one step further than last year when they were beaten in the final.

The Kinawley defender knows this will be a big motivation for the squad in this year's championship.

"I think we know ourselves we didn’t do ourselves justice in the final last year," said Murphy. "Bt we have that experience so hopefully that will stand to us. It will be more about proving to ourselves that we can perform on the day."

And to help go that one step further, Murphy has been impressed with the way the squad have returned to action following the extended Covid-19 enforced break, with competition for places never as fierce.

"For the time I have been playing, the competition for places has never been as high. There are so many options in each different position you really don’t know what team is going to be starting.

"But I suppose this year more than any you are reliant on a big squad because you don’t know what players you are going to missing on each day, whose going to have to be isolating or whatever. There a couple of new players in since we finished up in March.

"The panel is big but that’s what we need this year and like I said the competition for places is serious."

The squad have been back out training almost two months since the end of the club season with the championship their sole focus. Murphy believes that the short season is beneficial for the side as they only have one competition to prepare for in a short space of time.

"I think the way it is now with the two games so close together that it is definitely like a sharp focus.

"There is not a preseason, then league and then a break before championship. So it's very much like trying to get up to pace again now before the first game."

Wicklow are first up and Murphy is well aware of the threat the Garden County pose having won well in their first game against Carlow.

"We had the benefit of having a bye last weekend and we got to see Wicklow and Carlow so it gave us a bit of an idea and they racked up a big score. They will be a strong, physical team as well.

"We were due to play them in the league this year one of the last few games that was cancelled so the last time we would have played them was 2017 and it was a league semi final, and they were tough. They are a strong team so we will be up against it."

But Murphy is confident Fermanagh can keep Wicklow's threats at bay.

"Defensively we have been good. I think in the league you could see us improving on it each time and we have more girls in since then so we should be good defensively and hopefully on the counter attack we will punish them."

But overall it is good to be back out playing after what has been an unprecedented year and Murphy acknowledges how lucky the team are to be actually competing.

"It has been a strange kind of year. Championship is what you want to be playing no matter what time it is but I think we are privileged.

"We are classified as elite sports so we can be out doing something when the rest of the country doesn’t have that privilege so we are lucky to be travelling at the weekend," added the Fermanagh captain.

Fermanagh play Wicklow on Saturday, October, 31 in Lannleire, Co. Louth at 1pm.