After picking up their first win of the league against Monaghan on Sunday, Kerry defender Paul Murphy played down talk that the Kingdom are intent on regaining the Division 1 league crown, insisting that the squad will "think more deeply about" that later in the spring.
Goals during the last quarter from David Clifford and Diarmuid O'Connor helped Kerry close out a nine-point victory in Clones, with Murphy reasonably happy with his side's overall showing.
He told RTÉ Sport: "In the first half we mixed good spells and bad spells. We started quite well, they got a goal, had a purple patch and got back into it. We finished the first-half quite well and the turning point in the second half was when we got our second goal.
"That put a bit of daylight between us and we were able to manage the game, not comfortably, but were able to see it out from there."
It was David Clifford who raised Kerry's second green flag, with Murphy praising the contribution of midfielder in setting up the score.
"It was a brilliant finish after we won possession with Diarmuid getting a block down on his man. David finished it so coolly; right leg low to the ground under the keeper. With Diarmuid's hard work at the back the chance wouldn't have come about; those are the sort of plays that win you matches and Diarmuid deserves a huge amount of credit for that."
It's the first week of February and Kerry's focus for now it would seem is fixed on a date with Mayo in a fortnight's time. No thinking, as of yet, on any silverware that may be handed out over the Easter weekend.
"You don't get too high with the wins and too low with the defeats at this time of the year," the Rathmore clubman added.
"Everyone is looking forward to the year ahead and you are still finding your feet in 2024. The priority at this stage is to be building performances, building fitness and building a panel.
"You want to win every game, but you take it week by week. Mayo in Tralee in two weeks' will be the immediate focus for the next few sessions. You'll see where you are after five, six rounds of the league and then think more deeply about it.
"You learn a lot from a Divison 1 game, it's a step-up from a McGrath Cup game, so you get great context. Your learn a lot from Derry, who are playing realy, really well. And then move on to correct the flaws and the mistakes from the previous week."
Monaghan captain Kieran Duffy felt they didn't use the elements well in the second period as they looked to reduce a four-point deficit at the break.
Also speaking to RTÉ Sport, he said: "We knew we had to up the work rate and get the shooters on the ball, we didn't create enough chances to warrant that. They hit us on the break and got scores and could not claw that lead back."
