Fermanagh Manager Joe Baldwin says his side have nothing to fear as they begin their Nickey Rackard Cup campaign with a home game against Donegal on Sunday.

The Ernemen earned the right to compete in the Nickey Rackard by winning the Lory Meagher Cup last season, and after a league campaign that saw them clinch promotion to Division 3B for 2023, Baldwin stresses that while confidence is high as they enter championship, the quality of opposition they will meet is set to rise.

“We are underdogs – everybody else has been playing at a higher level, but we got what we wanted out of the league, and we are not afraid of it. We are very much looking forward to going and giving the championship a good rattle,” said Baldwin, who acknowledged that Fermanagh are going to have to raise their game even further for the challenges that lie ahead.

“That win over Longford in the final last week made it nine competitive games in a row we’ve won, so confidence is high, but we know it is going to be a step up and we know it is going to take us to be near our best for the rest of the year for us to try and compete in this championship.”

The Nickey Rackard will be played on a round robin basis, with the top two teams contesting the final.

Along with Donegal, Fermanagh will also face Tyrone, Warwickshire, Armagh and Roscommon.

Baldwin wants Fermanagh to be competitive in the championship and he has full confidence that the players will do just that.

“First and foremost, I want us to be competitive, and I know the boys will be competitive.

“We want to compete at this level and stay in games as long as we can.

“We are not a pushover now, we’ve shown that for a while, and the more we can stay in games, the more teams will maybe get a wee bit itchy,” he added.

Of course, with relegation from the championship, the first goal will be to ensure that Fermanagh retain their Nickey Rackard status, but Baldwin feels that the players are better than just setting that as the target.

‘Really wary’

“There is relegation in the championship, so we certainly have to be really wary of that, because it is not what we want.

“The Lory Meagher was great for our development, but if you stand still you will be caught, so we need to keep evolving and moving.

“You want to stay in this championship but I believe in these players and I think we are better than that, I think we can cause a few shocks just with the way the draw is and the quality that we have,” he said.

Indeed, Baldwin would love to do what Sligo did a few years ago and win back-to-back championships.

“It is really set up for Fermanagh hurling to try and push on and do a Sligo by doing back-to-back championships although we realise just how hard that will be.”

The Fermanagh boss believes that there is very little between the sides in the group and he expects all sides to drop points at some stage during the group phase.

“Everybody in that championship is going to take points off one another, so you could possibly afford to drop one or maybe even two games and still qualify. I think it is a very competitive group; it is very strong,” he said.

With that in mind, Baldwin is aiming for three wins from their five games. “From the five games we will try and target three wins, and if we can get that you don’t know where it will take you.

“We can only take it one game at a time, but we are coming in with momentum and we want to keep building on that. If we could get three wins we would be in a really good position,” he commented.

However, he is expecting a very tough test on Sunday when they host Donegal.

“Our first game is going to be very tough, because Donegal have been at a higher level; even in terms of the league, they are two leagues above us and they have been at that level for a while, so it is going to be very difficult and we are going to be really tested.

Performance

“We will just try and get our game plan right and try and produce a performance,” he added.

One thing that Baldwin will need though in the competition is a bit of luck on the injury front.

To that end, he is expecting a stronger hand to select from this weekend with the likes of Danny Teague and Francie McBrien set to come back into the equation.

“If we can stay injury-free, we will definitely cause a few shocks.

“If we have Danny Teague, Francie McBrien, Barney McAuley and John Duffy available, it would make a massive difference and Barry Teehan from Tipp is over the line and available to go.

“Danny will be good to go this week and it is a big week for Francie and John who get their scan results so if we can get them back in too that would be great.”