Damian McErlain under no illusions over the size of the task in today's Minor final

Armagh vs. Derry

2pm, Healy Park

Derry minor manager Damian McErlain is under no illusions of the task that awaits his charges in today’s All-Ireland final.

Within hours of overseeing his side’s hard fought semi-final win over Kerry, McErlain - now in his fifth season as minor boss - was on the road again to see Armagh’s victory over Mayo.

The Connacht champions have developed well over the past few seasons and while a fancied side, McErlain’s “gut feeling” was about how’d they would struggle with Armagh. And so it transpired.

“You're going to Longford expecting a 50-50 game not sure who's coming out of it,” McErlain said of his scouting mission.

“We hadn't seen Mayo at all, we hadn't got to play them in a friendly or anything. It was pretty apparent early on, really early on, that Armagh were just going to overrun them from an organisation point of view and overall just quality.

“II had the gut feeling that it might be the case that Mayo hadn't faced a team as well drilled and coached as that and how would they cope and that's exactly how it turned out.”

Very often, underage level is about managing the mind-set as much as anything else. Derry have a third of last year’s winning team at their disposal. With that comes chatter of retaining titles and the pressure that goes with that.

“Once you win a few games then there was the vibe that you were strong again and everybody was out to test themselves against you,” McErlain said, pointing how opponents came with a different mind-set for challenge games. Derry were now the barometer.

“The pleasing thing for us is that we so far have come up with the answers,” he added before giving a final word to Sunday’s opponents.

“We've one more massive test to come down the line at us and a team that has improved every match in the championship, basically right from the first league match.

“They're a very, very united outfit, good quality side and brilliantly managed and sensibly managed. There's no hiding the challenge there is ahead.”

With the mention tough assignments, Derry have been well road-tested. Tyrone asked plenty of questions in the Ulster semi-final.

Armagh’s goal shook up the final with Derry needing to dig deep in the dying moments to keep their hands on the Murray Cup.

Dublin looked to have weathered the storm in three separate occasions only for Derry to put themselves in a winning position. It was the same in their semi-final with Kerry.

“There are learnings in them all,” McErlain said of the Oakleafers’ path to the final. “Some of them we address before the matches and they still get to happen so even at this level.

“At minor level, you always feel that the lads don't believe anything until they see it happen for themselves.

“They're easier coached when they've come out of tough tests and seen how things went, either well or not so well.

“It helps us, there's no doubt it helps brush up on things once you see things happen in games and you're fit to do the video work and point it out to the lads and whatnot.”

There is also the competition for places. Caomhan McNally and Cody Rocks helped turn the tide in the win over the Kingdom.

Padraig O’Kane and Turlough McHugh missed parts of the season before forcing their way back in. McErlain and the management were able to absorb Ger Dillon’s loss when he was on the injured likes.

The Derry boss admits there are tough decisions but welcome ones. Different players are putting their hands up. It was unfortunate on Rian Collins and Chris McCullagh who missed out the last day.

“It's a very competitive squad,” McErlain summed up, speaking just over 10 days ahead of the final.

“It does make for difficult decisions surely and that could be the case. It definitely gives you food for thought but it's great to have options.

“It is an elite environment and that becomes a very tough piece if you have to leave somebody out just for an All-Ireland final or even an All-Ireland semi-final as we had to do with Rian there at the weekend and Chris McCullagh who are key parts of the whole thing.

“It's just a tough environment for that. It is a testament to the strength of the squad that we have the options and quality, the confidence to make changes if we think it will help the team.”