Fermanagh defender, James McMahon speaks honestly about the last two league games which saw the county drop into to Division Three.

Just as he plays the game, there is no messing about. He cuts to the core of the issue when reflecting on the Erne county’s performances in the long awaited return of inter-county football.

Fermanagh were hampered by a Covid-19 outbreak just before they took on Clare but McMahon sees that as no excuse.

“I suppose things were a bit disjointed in the build up, obviously,” McMahon says.

“I think its absolutely no excuse because we came out of that Clare game and we had enough chances to win two games and the Laois game similarly.

“We did a lot of good stuff in both games and unfortunately the same old mistakes come back to haunt us in terms of turnovers in the final third or missed chances or wrong decisions and then we were punished for it.”

Nobody really knew what to expect from Fermanagh in Clare as they were missing so many players while against Laois, McMahon admits his side were in “complete control” for an hour before the wheels fell off.

“The Laois game, without playing really well, we were in complete control for 60 minutes and should have had them completely out of sight.

“So we would be disappointed with the last 10 minutes and the way when the pressure did come on we were sort of under the cosh and couldn’t get out but I suppose that is inevitable too when they are fighting for their lives and we were already relegated.

“But I definitely think between the Clare game and the first 60 minutes of the Laois game there are an awful lot of positives to take out of it.”

For McMahon and Fermanagh the aim over the over the coming days in the lead up to the Ulster Championship against Down is to build on the positives while looking at the aspects of the game that let them down and improve.

“There are just a few things we need to tidy up and that is what we will be looking at for the Down game.

“It’s the same old story, you want to keep doing what you are doing well and improve on what is letting you down.”

For the last number of years, Fermanagh’s conversion rate when being on top has been poor but the Roslea clubman doesn’t feel this lies directly at the door of the Fermanagh attackers.

“It’s not just this year or last two years. It’s the last six or seven years its been our downfall, you know.

“I feel defensively we’ve always been fairly solid and always had a good platform around the middle and it’s just small things at the top end that are letting us down.

“And that’s not putting the whole blame or emphasis on the front six.

“I think that comes from all over the pitch in terms of anyone can find themselves up there and players from all over making wrong decisions up there.

“In terms of rectifying it, it’s probably just a matter of going back to training with particular emphasis on that.

“We are trying to create match like situations and trying to get boys into the groove and making better decisions up there and taking the right options and having better execution.”

Many of the players who were affected by the Covid outbreak are back training and competition for places is fierce.

And despite not feeling like a proper championship season, McMahon knows these upcoming sessions will see a ramping up in intensity.

“Everyone is back in and with everyone fully fit there is serious competition.

“You take the three young boys that started against Clare, Sean (McNally), Josh (largo-Elis) and Luke (Flanagan). They weren’t in the reckoning at the start of the year now all three of them have come in and done really really well so there are three spots that they are going to push hard for.

“It’s inevitable you are going to have boys disappointed but there is serious competition.

“I’m sure if Ricey and the management had to sit down and pick the team they would have serious bother, that is in a good sense.

“You would expect to see a bit of bite this week and next week in training albeit it doesn’t feel like Championship preparation but you’d expect to see that bite and boys fighting hard for their spot.”

“This season, it is completely different. In terms of conditions it feels like you are in the middle of the league but I do feel now in training you will start to sense from the intensity alone it is championship time and that is where it will really start to feel like championship season,” he concluded.