IT has been over 200 days since Antrim's footballers dusted off their boots to compete in a Gaelic football game, but that long-awaited return ends as they compete for McKenna Cup glory this winter.

The Saffrons face no better measure of a pre-season test than an away fixture with  Derry on Wednesday evening before welcoming Jim McGuinness and the 2025 All-Ireland finalists Donegal to Cargin in the space of five days

As much as the pre-season marker is often used to gauge fitness rather than any real competitive substance, there is no doubt that this year is a different McKenna Cup than most for Antrim for a few key reasons.

Firstly, the introduction of former Slaughtneil manager and Derry native Mark Doran, who will use the Dr McKenna Cup to try and negotiate his squad and dwindle the numbers down to get his team prepared and ready for the league campaign which starts in three weeks' time where Antrim will be firmly focused on their league opener with Carlow.

"Our most important game is Carlow in the first game of the league, because if we don't get a good start in that we're under massive pressure," said Mark.

"It is a dogfight in the fourth tier, but I know from my time in Clare for two years with Colm Collins, Clare came from the Fourth Division and ended up in the Second Division and stayed there.

"That is the challenge for us as a management team, getting a squad that will commit to this thing for three or four years and then once you do that, we'll see where it takes us."

Secondly, Antrim travel to Derry where they will face the challenge of a strong panel in their opener, which could be used as a marker given that both sides will once again compete when they meet in the opening round of Ulster Championship in the spring time.

Antrim will face a tough campaign where they will be hopeful that promotion is on the cards after Andy McEntee left the role of manager last summer following a very poor campaign which saw Antrim demoted to the bottom tier and an embarrassing Tailteann Cup campaign which ended in misery with an 11-point deficit away to Wexford back in June.

The Saffrons now have the tall task as they enter Division Four with only one objective on the cards – promotion.

Antrim will also be without former captain Dermot McAleese who announced his retirement following the previous campaign and despite the best efforts of Mark Doran and his staff the Cargin star has yet to rescind on his retirement.

The big question this season will also be whether the squad will see new additions from the county champions Dunloy who ended their 89 year wait for an Antrim Senior Football title.

The North Antrim club already pull star power on the hurling panel, but Mark Doran when speaking at the Antrim All-Stars event in November acknowledged that he would be "silly not to" when asked whether the likes of the Elliot brothers Seaan and Nigel or any of the Dunloy panel would be under consideration.

The decision ultimately lies with the players, who have decided to continue plying their county careers with the hurling squad once again.

Wednesday evening's game could be an interesting one with no squad officially announced by Antrim GAA, partially due to absent role of an official PRO, but a few surprise call-ups could be in the offing as Antrim kick-off their 2026 campaign.

The pre-season offers Mark Doran a chance in terms of judging his squad as many of the players will have their chance to shine, but the excitement will no doubt be really held for Sunday's cracker which will see the county face the best team in the province.

Tickets for both Wednesday's clash with Derry and Sunday's fixture with Donegal can be bought on the Universe.com website.

Alternatively, live streaming services are available for the events also at UlsterGAA.com.