Derry manager Paddy Tally believes that his side will be able to rebound from relegation to Division 2 of the Allianz Football League, and is confident his players will recover in time for the Ulster Championship.
The Oak Leaf county, who were champions of Division 1 only a year ago, had their relegation confirmed today with a 2-19 to 1-17 defeat against Mayo.
Goals from Jordan Flynn and Frank Irwin guided Mayo to a five-point victory in Celtic Park and the result leaves Derry with just one point from their league campaign.
For Tally, the game represented a microcosm of what Derry have done so far this campaign and he admitted that his players didn't reach the standards required of them.
"It's been a symptom of our season so far," he told RTÉ Sport. "Today looked like the way our year has been, bits good and bits poor. We looked exciting at times and a lot of time we just looked off it.
"I think it [relegation] was inevitable. We really needed things to fall for us and even if we had won the game today, I didn't think we were going to survive. Our relegation was probably sorted out a long time ago.
"Today was disappointing because I think the players really wanted to equip themselves well. At times we did play well, we played with plenty of spirit, but we just didn't play up to the standards we expected ourselves."
Derry now face a dead rubber against Armagh next week in their final league game, and already thoughts are turning to the championship.
Tally’s men get their Ulster campaign underway against Donegal in three weeks and while their league performances have hardly represented ideal preparation, he still believes his side are heading in the right direction.
"The first thing you do is look what you're doing well. You know, there is a lot of really good stuff. I know we didn't get the result today, but there's still a lot of really good football being played.
"We've exposed players to Division 1. I think there's another couple of lads getting there today for the first time, so that's part of it as well.
"You have to look at the positives here. This is a process that was never going to be easy after last year, after the way Derry finished the season last year. We knew this was going to be a tough one.
"We're trying to rebuild something here, it's going to take a bit of time."
