Allianz Football League Division Three
Antrim v Longford (Corrigan Park, Saturday, 2.30pm)

WHILE the Allianz Football League is over the half-way, the Division Three picture remains as clear as mud with all eight teams still capable of promotion or in danger of relegation.

Antrim host Longford at Corrigan Park on Saturday and will enter the game in second place against a team second from bottom, but an away win would see the sides level on points.

That shows just how tight things are, but matters may be a little clearer by close of play this weekend so a victory for the Saffrons is imperative to keep pace at the top half of the table.

That will not be a straightforward assignment against a Longford side that caused something of a stir by defeating Westmeath in Mullingar at the weekend in a rescheduled fixture that was their first win of the campaign.

Looks can be deceiving and Antrim manager Enda McGinley had been impressed with what he has seen from this weekend’s opposition and doesn’t believe their league position is a reflection of their quality or threat they will pose on Saturday.

“I saw them when preparing for the Limerick game and then against Louth and considering what Louth have done since, that performance was very credible,” he noted.

“They were sitting with one point and had played a lot of good football, so they probably righted that wrong a bit last week in Mullingar.

“I don’t think at any stage we were taking Longford lightly and if you look back over the last number of years, they have been a side that’s been a very credible opposition in (All-Ireland) Qualifiers, in Championship or in League. They beat Westmeath really well and were very impressive.”

There is good news on the injury front for Antrim as James McAuley and Dermott McAleese, who picked up injuries in early fixtures, are back in contention, while Declan Lynch, who underwent shoulder surgery towards the end of last year, is back in full training again.

The availability of that trio will be a huge plus and will bolster McGinley’s options this weekend, but he has been happy with the progress made in the campaign so far and believes things are going the right way.

“Anything we’ve asked the boys to do, they’ve done it and we’ve got more boys starting to find a wee bit of form, so that all leads to an upward trajectory overall,” he notes.

“The results are such fine margins and we saw what happened when we were off the boil in the first five or ten minutes against Limerick and suffered that loss.

“The League brings loads of lessons and it’s up to us if we want to learn them, so it’s just about getting minds focussed on Longford this week, but the priority has to be our own performance.”

The early rounds of the League were played in very difficult conditions including the draw against Laois a fortnight ago that the Antrim manager feels was a point gained given how the division has played out.

Every point is a prisoner now and at least one this weekend would keep them firmly in the promotion race, but two would be even better.

It is clear that nobody is certain of moving up, yet neither is anybody safe from the drop, so McGinley insists his team must forget about the standings for now and just zone in on what is coming on Saturday.

“It’s human nature to be drawn towards the table, but the amount of permutations from the fixtures this weekend left my head near spinning,” he admitted.

“The reality is that you can only focus on your own performance and that is very true this weekend. We can only look after ourselves as anything we do in the match will dictate what we get out of it and from there it will dictate where we are in the table.

“There’s no point worrying as the table is out of your control. The League is tight across all divisions, but it’s worse in Division Three and it’s over to our performance this week. We take care of that then everything will take care of itself.”