SATURDAY evening at 5pm Antrim make the short journey to neighbours Derry as they compete in the quarter-final of the Ulster Championship at Celtic Park.

Antrim head into the game as serious underdogs with bookmakers giving odds for a win starting at 16/1 with a handicap of -14 in favour of hosts Derry on Saturday evening.

Anyone who has been following the treks and sometimes slogs of Antrim's 2026 football campaign will understand the disparity between the sides is certainly no laughing matter.

In fact Derry are one of the form sides in the country having narrowly missed out on a chance of promotion to Division One, and likely would have done so if not for an opening day defeat to Meath which ultimately cost them.

During their league campaign, the Oak Leaf county managed a record-breaking result over eventual league winners Cork, and won five of their seven contests. The loss early on to Meath proved pivotal with the two separated by just the two points by the campaigns' final day.

Not only have they proved to be strong in Division Two, but have enjoyed taking the scalps of fellow Ulster sides Cavan and Tyrone during their 2026 season so far and will look firmly to taking a third on Saturday.

Before we go on anymore with the glazing of Derry, we must give our own boys their due and back them to the hilt, even if victory may seem unlikely, Gaelic Games often throws a surprise or two our way and why not in the direction of Antrim?

Similar to Derry, if not for the early form in the league, with reference to three defeats in succession to start the league campaign off, then maybe we'd be talking about Antrim's late season flourish being part of the reason why they earned a Division Three promotion. But unfortunately, results were not to be in the opening weeks. Heading into an Ulster Championship game off the back of four victories, regardless of the level, is a huge boost in momentum and somewhat uncharted territory for the Saffrons.

Speaking on Belfast Media's collaborative podcast, We Are Antrim, Antrim boss Mark Doran believes his side will be ready after a hard month-long training from their final game against London.

"We've trained really hard these past four weeks and of course we ended the league campaign in a strong position. We won four of our last four league games, and speaking with a few of the boys like Marc Jordan, they admitted they can't remember the last time they went into the Ulster Championship on such a run," said the Antrim manager.

"We know that the last game against London we were far from perfect, and that is something we know we can improve upon, but look I'd rather play poorly and win than play well and lose, so the mood in the camp is great at the moment."

"This is the best time of year for an inter-county footballer, this is where the work put during the hard slogs in winter time – now the pitches are getting harder and the ball is bouncing better – this is prime time for an inter-county footballer. Let's just hope they can max out of the next month."

The Antrim boss also believes that injuries had their part to play early on in the league campaign, with the squad being lighter than he'd have liked for the opening fixture.

"I think the league maybe started a week or two too early for us, that isn't me making excuses, just going by the fact we had injuries during pre-season: No Ronan Boyle, John Morgan, Ryan McQuillan, Conor Hand, even Domo (Dominic McEnhill) couldn't play the first few weeks, and the list goes on.

"We had eleven debutants in our first three games, Antrim are no different to any other team who plays and competes at any level, if you have heaps of injuries to your quality stars it is going to make the task ahead an uphill battle."

Ahead of Saturday, Doran also referenced how he believes Derry are one of the top five teams in the country and will no doubt be a tall order for Antrim, but hopes his side can match the energy and spirit of the hosts in Celtic Park.

"We are facing probably a top five team in the country, I make no bones about that, they've a great team, great management team around them, a big bit of height which is something they lacked and now have their mojo back."

He added: "But as good as they are, it's about getting our own house in order and the biggest thing we will be focused on is matching their energy in Celtic Park and that will be tough no doubt, but we have to match that as best we can."

"A few injuries, yes, maybe some boys like Kevin Small will just not be ready but we can hope he will make it. But we've been keen to let boys know it really is 'next man up'.

"We see it as an opportunity for many boys who haven't had the game time maybe they'd have liked to get their chance, what better way than to get it at Ulster Championship this weekend."

Antrim will take on Derry live on BBC TWO NI and the BBC iPlayer app, with coverage starting from 4:30pm on Saturday evening.