RTÉ GAA analyst Enda McGinley believes that Derry manager Rory Gallagher's decision to operate with a razor-thin panel could be exposed in the coming months as they prepare to start their Ulster Championship defence this weekend.
The Oak Leaf County travel to Brewster Park on Saturday to face Fermanagh with speculation swirling around the fitness of a number of players, most notably midfield keystone Conor Glass and All-Star defender Chrissy McKaigue.
Eoin McEvoy, Padraig McGrogan, Conor Doherty and Oisin McWilliams, who is expected to miss out this weekend with a shin problem, have all been on the treatment table recently too.
That’s a red flag for McGinley who realises that in such a small ecosystem, injuries can prove extra disruptive.
It's also why, he believes, that Gallagher successfully pushed to have the county’s Ulster under-20 semi-final with Donegal played earlier so they wouldn’t be caught out by the seven-day rule that would have prevented the five players on both panels from facing Fermanagh.
"Going back to the thinness of the Derry panel, which I think was exposed against Dublin," he told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.
"They’ve moved Brendan Rogers out [from full-back] because Emmet Bradley is away this year, who was playing midfield.
"Yes, Eoin McEvoy has come in, great, but it means that your options are thinner on the ground again.
"Oisin McWilliams, who was one of their main subs to come in, if he’s out, if Conor Glass is out, you're looking at a really, really stretched team.
"He obviously made a big shout about the Under-20 championship because he has four or five U20s on the panel, and that’s only on a panel of, what, 27 he’s carrying?
"If two or three of them are down, does he have a full 26 actually to name a panel?"
That Oakleaf squad was boosted last week by the return of Ciaran McFaul from America.
The Glen player hasn’t featured since the March 2022 Division 2 win over Meath but having worked closely with Derry’s S&C coach, former Tyrone player Peter Hughes, prior to his return to Ireland, McGinley wouldn’t be surprised to see him feature in Enniskillen.
"It’s phenomenally tight margins and he [Gallagher] doesn't have huge experience....I actually think Ciaran McFaul, if he’s home with any fitness, he’ll see game-time.
"He is an excellent player, whenever he is fully fit and fully at it. He’s a player I would have a lot of time for and I think he will make an impact on that team and give them that wee bit of added depth or options to move things around."
Fermanagh’s last provincial win actually came under Gallagher’s tutelage when Eoin Donnelly dramatically fisted home a last-gasp winning goal in their 2018 Ulster semi-final win over Monaghan.
While still expecting Derry to progress, the former Red Hand star said that the Brewster Park factor could insure a difficult evening’s work for the Anglo Celt holders.
"Fermanagh are on a bit of a crest of a wave," McGinley continued.
"They are delighted with where they have come to through the National League.
"Some of their results, they were fortuitous enough, but that is a very, very happy Fermanagh camp and they love playing the underdog."
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