Fermanagh Ladies manager Johnny Garrity says that Fermanagh have nothing to fear on Sunday when they take on Clare in the All Ireland Intermediate Championship in Longford.

With both sides having lost to Leitrim in their opening game, this game will be a winner takes all situation with the victor progressing to the quarter final stage of the competition while the loser faces into relegation play offs.

“It’s a straight knockout game now and with that comes a simple remit and that is to go out and win the match,” said Garrity.

“Clare are a Division Two and on paper they will be the hot favourites to win, especially with the current run that we are on, but I think that it is going to be battle and it is going to come down to the final quarter if we can stay in the match until then.

“We are talking about a team that were beaten by Leitrim by four points so we should be going in with absolutely no fear.”

If Fermanagh are to progress then they are going to have to come up with their first win of the season but Garrity says that while results have not been what they wished for, they can take a lot away from their performances, and that will be the focus on Sunday.

“We want to get the monkey off the back but we are not concentrating on winning or losing or the permutations of what the result might be, it is just a case of focussing on the key performance indicators for our performance and that is what will bring us to a favourable outcome at the end of the day. We are concentrating on those small things that are within our control.

“You have to look past results and you have to look at details of the games themselves and when you scratch under the surface there is a lot of really good things happening and there is a progression match on match so although it is not reflected in the results, which is frustrating, we have got to be patient and keep looking at the performance.

“We know that we are not far away and we are going to keep going and try to improve where we need to improve and we know that victory is down the line for us and hopefully it is sooner rather than later,” he added.

Fermanagh have felt that key decisions have gone against them at times this season, none more so than in the Leitrim game when a couple of contentious late calls proved costly for Fermanagh, but Garrity says that the players have responded well in training to that set back.

“It comes as no surprise to us that the girls have reacted well, they have got their heads down at training and they want to improve on a few wee things that we identified and they want to put their best foot forward going into this game.”

And he states that the only focus is on getting through to the last eight.

“We are one win away from a quarter final and that is our focus at the minute.

“If things don’t go our way then we will look at the permutations of that but at the minute it is very much a case of being positive and looking forward,” he said.

If they are to win, the Erne manager believes that the key is making the most of things when they are on top and then minimising matters when Clare have a purple patch.

“Both teams will have their period on top and have their chances so the key will be for us to hurt them when we are on top and when they are on top to minimise the damage they do and minimise the amount of time they are on top.”