All-Ireland SFC: Derry boss Meenagh hopes 'less is more' build-up pays off against Cork

Ciaran Meenagh moved up from his assistant's role to become Derry manager after Rory Gallagher stepped down last month

Derry manager Ciaran Meenagh opted to give his squad a reduced training workload as they had a weekend off from competitive action but says time will tell whether it was the right approach.

The Ulster champions face Cork in their All-Ireland quarter-final on Sunday.

Meenagh was pleased his side avoided a preliminary quarter-final but worries Cork could be a team with momentum.

"I think more than any other team we could have been doing with a weekend off," said the Derry manager.

That was after a Championship campaign where the Oak Leafers have played six games - four of which were against teams that competed in Division One of the Football League, which included the Ulster Final against Armagh which went all the way to a penalty shootout.

Freshness versus momentum?

Cork have played a game less as they were beaten 0-14 to 0-13 by Clare in their Munster opener before regrouping to beat Louth and Mayo, the latter in sensational fashion, in the Super 16s, when they lost also narrowly against All-Ireland champions Kerry, prior to last weekend's deserved preliminary quarter-final win over Division One Roscommon.

"Some of the teams that have come through now like Cork, the momentum will have done them well I would think but that wasn't the case for ourselves," the Derry manager told BBC Radio Foyle.

"The journey we have been on and the nature of that journey, the weekend off, we used it to try and be as fresh as possible for this weekend.

"Hindsight will be where we are all wise and it will depend on the approach that we took.

"We decided less would be more [last weekend] and time will tell whether that approach was right or not."

John Cleary has guided Cork to the All-Ireland quarter-finals after the side struggled in Division Two and were beaten by Clare in the Munster Championship

Meenagh has height of respect for Rebels

It remains to be seen whether Sunday will reveal a pattern in terms of the freshness versus momentum argument.

Tyrone look to be in much better fettle than a week ago after their impressive dismissal of Donegal and now may have Kerry feeling a little twitchy for Sunday's renewal of Red Hand and Kingdom hostilities while on the other hand, can Mayo possibly go to the well again against Dublin after their heroics in Salthill.

For his part, Meenagh says he has the height of respect for John Cleary's Rebel County side.

Cork were the only side that Derry didn't beat in their successful Division Two round-robin campaign with the sides drawing 1-14 apiece at Pairc Ui Chaoimh but the Oak Leafers had already secured promotion by that stage and also rested several of their big guns that day.

In spite of that, the then Rory Gallagher-managed Derry side led by eight points shortly after half-time and still remained three ahead in the eighth minute of added time before Ian Maguire flicked in an equalising goal.

"We're looking at a team that has beaten two Division One teams already and has drawn with us previously this year in the National League," added Meenagh.

"Cork teams traditionally don't lack confidence whether that be in football, hurling or any other sport so that leaves them a dangerous animal and we're under no illusion as to gravity of the task that we face on Sunday.

"This year with the system that's in it, there are eight very, very strong teams and there are teams like Galway who are already gone."

Making semi-finals would be 'incredible achievement'

It seems certain that Derry will go into the game as favourites to return to the semi-finals stage where they lost out 2-8 to 1-6 against Galway last year.

But given everything the Derry squad has had to contend with this year, Meenagh says the Oak Leafers progressing to a second successive semi-final would represent an outstanding effort.

"Getting to an All-Ireland semi-final last year maybe was unexpected in a lot of people's eyes but [after] all that has happened this year and considering we've achieved promotion to Division One and have won another Ulster title, to win one more game, if we could navigate that, I think it would be an incredible achievement."

While there is no obvious stand-out form team in the remaining eight contenders, Meenagh believes that things will be a little clear after this weekend.

"It will be down to four and you'll have an idea of the teams that are starting to get their horses coming at the one time.

A leg injury means Oisin McWilliams will play no further part in Derry's championship campaign

"Momentum is a very powerful thing in this game especially when you have such a tight window.

"There's a case why anybody can win it and there's a case why anybody can't win it. It leaves it very exciting but after this weekend it will become a bit clearer where the pecking order lies."

Derry appear to have no major injury concerns among their likely starters although squad members Oisin McWilliams and Matthew Downey have been ruled out for the remainder of the inter-county campaign.

"Matthew, who has been out for some time, has had a recurrence of a quad injury and we were rushing to get Oisin McWilliams back and he has broken down in the process with a bone injury to the lower leg," added Meenagh.

"It's really disappointing because those are two players we would have been looking towards having an impact because they are very, very exciting talents."