Ulster U20 Football Championship quarter-final
Derry v Antrim (Owenbeg, Friday, 8pm)

ANTRIM'S U20 footballers are confident of their upcoming game against Derry despite their losses in pre-season tournaments, with manager Niall Jackman saying the previous losses to Louth, Tyrone and Down have allowed the team to build cohesion and iron out problems as they head into the Championship.

The Saffrons make the trip to Owenbeg on Friday evening as outsiders, but remain hopeful they cause an upset the odds against the Oak Leafers who were All-Ireland minor champions two years ago.

Pre-season didn’t quite run as smoothly as hoes, but that was then and this is now and the Ulster Championship has always been in their sights.

The hope is that it will all come together on Friday evening and the Antrim manager is hopeful his players are ready to raise it a level under the lights in North Derry.

“We’ve been building the squad over the last month a half with the pre-season cup competitions,” said the Fermanagh native.

“We played Louth, Down and Tyrone, we didn’t figure too well in terms of results, but from them we’ve been building the team and getting the team trained up and the team have learned a lot from those games.”

The Saffrons have been solidly training since December, and Jackman states there is an air of excitement and a real buzz about the training grounds as the team prepare, despite knowing of Derry’s reputation as a strong side, and possible favourites.

“We’re really gearing up for the knockouts now and the team are feeling confident going ahead,” he insists.

“Everybody’s excited, the lads have been working hard in the gym since December and on pitch sessions, there’s a buzz about the place and the lads are hoping they’ll make the 24 from which we’ll select the 15 from.

“The lads all know that Derry are a strong team and one of the favourites.

“There’s a strong panel of the All-Ireland winning team from two years ago among them, so there probably won’t be too many people outside of Antrim giving us a prayer, but you’d probably prefer that and we’ll focus on looking forward to it and giving the best of the county.”

The good weather has also lifted spirits and helped with training as the team have been able to ditch indoor training in favour of getting onto the turf and practising in earnest.

With only three current bad injuries affecting squad selection, Jackman insists the team have never been healthier.

“We have a very good defender from Portglenone, Dan McNicholl who was only made his first-team session last Saturday, so we’ll have to make a call on whether Dan comes back in,” he revealed.

“Another good forward who plays for Ballymena All Saints is out at the moment with a bad hamstring injury which will unfortunately rule him out this Friday.

“Fionn Nagle from St Enda’s has also had an ankle injury but outside of that the team is looking as healthy as it has looked.”

Some Saffron players have caught a lot of good attention over recent months, and with over half of the players still with another year to play as U20, Niall Jackman said he has a lot of upcoming talent to work with ahead of Friday’s game.

“Ronan Boyle has really caught attention this year, he’s a very talented player, you can play him nearly anywhere on the pitch and he’s a great leader,” he added.

“We’ve got Mícháel Ferris who’s a very fast and capable player who is brilliant around the middle third. Plus there’s Ruairi Hagan and Aidan McAleese both from Portglenone who’ve put in some really good performances.

“Our team is a young panel, over half of the lads have another year left at U20, so we’re working hard to get them all up to where we need to be.”