Fermanagh return to action after their league final loss against Cavan in Croke Park two weekends ago with a mouth-watering Ulster Championship meeting with Derry in Brewster Park on Saturday.

Momentum

Kieran Donnelly’s side will be hoping to build on the momentum his side created throughout their run to promotion and Derrylin clubman Luke Flanagan says all focus is now on current Ulster champions Derry.

“We were disappointed with how we performed in the league final, there’s no doubt about that. But with such a quick turnaround there’s no time for us to dwell on it. We’ve parked it and immediately started looking forwards to Derry.

“Training since the league final has went well and everyone is fully focused on the Derry game and how we’re going to approach it.

“Championship brings a good buzz with it and everyone in the camp is looking forward to it. I expect Derry to bring a huge intensity from the start. They’ve been playing Division Two football this year and will be playing Division One football next year, so it will definitely be a step up from our league campaign, but we’re aware of that and we know we will have to step up to that level if we want to get the right result on the day.

“They have a distinctive style of play that we’ll have to be prepared for and we’ll have our homework done but we want to focus on implementing our own game too.”

Flanagan pointed out the importance of the confidence his side gained from their league encounters and hopes they can replicate the same level of performance.

“Obviously getting promoted during the league is a huge lift, and winning games brings a great buzz around the camp and the aim is to keep that going.

“I think in particular the Down and Antrim games gave us great confidence just in the nature of how we dug them out.

“The Down game was nip and tuck right to the end and was a great feeling to come out on top and the comeback against Antrim just built on that,” said Luke.

Winning feeling

The defender added: “Obviously, that feeling after the league final couldn’t be more contrasting, but we’re looking to get that winning feeling back. I think we’ve definitely taken steps forward this year, another year of learning our system and how we want to play, along with the addition of new lads who have only strengthened the panel and have brought real competition to the squad.

“Due to the competitiveness of the league, you can’t underestimate the importance of that first game, win it and you’re looking up the table, but lose it and you’re starting to feel the pressure of not getting dragged into a relegation battle.

“Everyone’s objective at the start of the league was to get promoted, and that didn’t have to be said.

“We are always looking to improve and improvement on last year started with getting promoted.

“ We’ve achieved that now and our next aim is championship, again, I don’t think it needs to be said that we’re aiming to come out of Brewster Park with a win, if you’re not going into a championship game to win, at any level, then you shouldn’t be there.

“Obviously, most people will be expecting Derry to come away with the win, they are Ulster champions for a reason. But knockout football allows for upsets, and we’ll be going there to win, not just show up, and if we perform like we believe we can, we will.

“If we come away with the win, we’ll not get carried away with ourselves and our attention will turn to the next game,” said Flanagan.