Chrissy McKaigue: Defender says 'giving up captaincy has boosted me and Derry'

Chrissy McKaigue captained Derry to the county's first Ulster title in 24 years last May but Rory Gallagher opted to appoint Conor Glass as skipper for this season

Chrissy McKaigue says no longer being Derry captain this season was necessary for him and has also contributed to the team becoming better.

Rory Gallagher's decision to install Conor Glass as Derry skipper did cause some surprise in GAA circle with Shane McGuigan also handed a leadership role.

However, McKaigue says it was a move that both he and the squad "needed".

"It's time for those [other] lads to drive the thing on," he said ahead of Sunday's Ulster Final against Armagh.

"To show the leadership that they are capable of and and I believe this year, as a result of them taking more ownership within the team, that they have performed better on the pitch too."

Last year, Derry relied heavily on the performances of the likes of McKaigue, Glass, McGuigan, Brendan Rogers, Ethan Doherty and Gareth McKinless as they clinched a first Ulster title in 24 years and reached the All-Ireland semi-finals, where they were beaten by Galway.

Paul Cassidy has been among several breakout stars for Derry this year and McKaigue says there is a further "conveyor belt" of young talent in the Oak Leaf county

However, players such as Conor McCluskey, Paul Cassidy, goalkeeper Odhran Lynch and Padraig McGrogan have also excelled this year and McKaigue believes the increased responsibility thrust on those relatively young players has only boosted Gallagher's squad.

And what's more, the Slaughtneil man believes there is a lot more talent waiting to be tapped into in the Oak Leaf county.

"I have huge belief that there's a conveyor belt of U20s and minors that are coming through in Derry that are very, very strong also.

"There has to be a sustainability to the project that Derry is doing. I believe that there is, so whilst the Ulster Final is a massively important day for Derry GAA, I believe it's in a really good place currently and that gives me a lot of satisfaction to say."

McKaigue admits that he believes Derry are "at the top table" of inter-county football at the moment, but quickly adds that there are "at least eight teams" who can claim to be in that category.

"For us we just control what we control and we feel with the age profile of the team, there is a lot of room for growth and getting better and that will go beyond this year.

"Right now the focus is on trying to retain our Ulster title. It means a huge amount to us."

'Ulster still holds a lot of importance for us'

"You would see that by the way that we have put so much energy into our preparations for the Fermanagh and Monaghan games.

"First things first, we want to perform against Armagh and give ourselves every chance of trying to win that game, understanding that it's going to take everything that we have."

Despite the chat in some GAA circles about how the "real football" will only begin with the start of the All-Ireland series, McKaigue says the Ulster Championship "still holds a lot of importance for us and I know it does for Armagh too".

"So it will be a special day with a massive crowd so as a player, those are the days that you want to be part of and we're very fortunate that we will be part of it.

"We feel if we perform to our potential that we will give ourselves a really good chance of winning, but we're under no illusions that Armagh are going to be formidable opposition.

"We've huge respect for Armagh. They are a really, really top team so yeah……we wouldn't expect anything different in an Ulster Final.

"Looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to the colour and the atmosphere that Armagh supporters will bring alongside our own supporters, who have been unbelievable over the last 24 months in particular."