New Derry manager Damian Cassidy, who has already questioned the merits of the close season, faces his first game in charge on Sunday aware that he is confronted with an onerous task.

Even though they won the National League last year, Derry were still deemed to be under-achievers because of their failure to perform competently on the championship stage.

But having had just forty-eight hours in which to prepare his side for the Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup opener against Fermanagh at Enniskillen, Cassidy is refusing to allow the perceived pressures of his post to impact on his early strategy.

“The fact that county teams are not allowed to train and play games in November and December makes it very difficult for managers to take stock. You would have to wonder about the value of the close season,” points out Bellaghy clubman Cassidy.

Fermanagh manager Malachy O’Rourke plans to run the rule over several hitherto fringe players in the McKenna Cup as he will be without a tranche of established competitiors.

“We want to see what these boys have to offer. We are in what looks like being a tough section - UUJ and Donegal are also in there and they won’t be easy,” he says.