Fermanagh manager Johnny Garrity says that a return to Division Four is not “in our script” as his side face a relegation play-off against Wicklow next Sunday, June 20.

Defeat to Down at Brewster Park on Sunday saw Garrity’s charges finish the group with three defeats but he is determined to get the result needed on Sunday week to ensure Division Three football next season.

“It is very important (securing Division Three status) given that we worked very hard to get out of Division Four and we don’t want to return to it.

“We also feel that it is the lowest division that we want to be in right now in terms of introducing new players and plying our trade so returning to Division Four wouldn’t be in our script and we’ll certainly be doing everything we can to avoid it,” he said.

Wicklow and Fermanagh met in last year’s All Ireland Intermediate Championship final with the Erne girls coming out on top that day in a tight battle and Garrity expects much the same this time around.

“Absolutely and we know by Wicklow’s three group games up to now; all three of them were very tight and tense affairs that could have went either way and this one could be similar but we are well prepared for that.

“It’s a big game but we are used to that because any one of the three games would have been enough for us to secure our place in Division Three for next year and this one is no different,” he added.

Fermanagh were pipped by two points on Sunday against the Mourne side but Garrity feels that there is plenty of positives to take out of the game moving towards this weekend’s play-off.

“We felt that we went backwards against Sligo although there was still elements of that performance that really pleased us. I think the Down match has been the best yet in terms of putting everything together for an hour long performance and for me we were really unlucky not to come away with a better result.

“But we can take a lot of positives from that result and we know that if we can progress on from there we will be in a great place.”

The Fermanagh manager was disappointed not to securesafety against Down and believes that a couple of key decisions went against his side.

“It was really disappointing,” he said. “You can look back to us hitting the post with the keeper beaten, you can look at quite a harsh penalty conceded and an equally good penalty call for us turned down at the death.

“It’s small margins but we can be very pleased with large parts of our performance. There is room for improvement but we are certainly improving game on game at this very moment.”

And he is aiming for a similar level of performance next week to keep Fermanagh in Division Three.

“We would feel that the performance that we put in on Sunday would be enough to give any team problems at this level but we are not looking to merely replicate it, we are looking to improve on it and if we do that we will be in a really good place,” he commented.