Fermanagh could be without up to 10 regulars for opening day trip to Kildare

Allianz Football League Division Three, round one

Kildare v Fermanagh (Saturday, Cedral St Conleth’s Park, 5pm)

Decimated Fermanagh make the long trip to Newbridge for their NFL opener without nine of their regulars against a hotly fancied Kildare

And their 10th, the talismanic Ultan Kelm has only a 50/50 chance of starting according to Erne boss Kieran Donnelly.

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But Donnelly will be minus the injured Oisin Smyth, Luke Flanagan, Brandon Horan, Sean Cassidy, Conor McGee, Sean McNally while Che Cullen is in Cork and Conor McShea and Callum Jones are heading to Australia.

Fermanagh were very unlucky to be relegated from Division Two when a late goal against highly-rated Cork derailed the Erne County’s season as they were later relegated along with Kildare whom they beat in Brewster Park last year.

A year on, the Lilywhites have been installed as favourites to come out of this division with the return of the towering Kevin Feely and Daniel Flynn along with a raft of All-Ireland U20 winners and a new manager in Brian Flanagan.

This is a game they will see as a two-pointer against a considerably weakened Fermanagh side.

“It is a huge reduction of vastly experienced players, but we are proud of the squad we have brought in as they have been a massive plus to us.

“But the lads who played in the challenge games have been really impressive.

“Ultan Kelm’s chances of starting are no better than 50/50 which makes our task even tougher.

“All of the rest are not in contention as apart from Che Cullen, Callum Jones and Conor McShea who are elsewhere, all of the injuries are long term and will take some time to heal up.

“On the plus side, we should have a very strong squad by late spring and early summer.”

But Donnelly admitted that the absentees were going to test the county’s strength in depth.

“It leaves a big hole in our squad as they are all big players, but we are confident enough in the players we have, who have been training hard and have been putting in big shifts.

“So those guys are just going to have to step up and it’s a chance for them to stake claims for regular places and it just leaves you with a very experienced squad.

“They will get exposure that they normally would not get.”

On the plus side, the ultra-versatile Darragh McGurn is back in action and landed 0-3 in a lively challenge match against Monaghan

“Darragh is a huge help, and we played the entire League without him last year and he would have made a huge difference.

“He is a big player for us, and he is a huge asset and is in a good place.”

But Fionan O’Brien has developed into a real leader while newcomers like Jack Largo Ellis, Paul Breen, Aoghan Kelm and a beefed- up Conor Love are all making a difference in a team that is skippered by veteran Declan McCusker.

Jonny Cassidy, Lee Cullen, Garvan Jones, Joe McDade, Ronan McCaffrey and Shane McGullion are now the backbone of the team.

“We have a depth in the squad and that is important and they are match ready and gave Monaghan a stiff challenge.

“Watching it back, I thought the game had great pace but the downside of the two-pointer rule is that Rory Beggan got 0-7 and Jack McCarron got 0-3 and that was 10 of Monaghan’s total so we could have won the match if they had not got so many two-pointers.

“And that can be a bit farcical.

“And, a game can turn so quickly on a two pointer so the team that perfects this skill will have a clear advantage.

“Monaghan are just down from Division One so I was happy with the way we competed with them.”

Meanwhile Donnelly is happy to hand the favourites tag to Kildare.

“The pressure is on them to perform and get the two points at home while our expectations are not nearly as high, and it takes the pressure off us.”