Roscommon have the belief and the players to compete with the football heavyweights of Division One of the National League, according to defender Neil Collins.
John Evans’ side were very impressive in securing promotion from Division 2 of the Allianz Football League, and face Down on Sunday in that division’s final.
With the county’s U21s having also secured Connacht provincial success, the signs are good for the Rossies.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Collins said gaining promotion had been the aim for Roscommon’s senior team, and the next target was to challenge consistently with the elite counties in Division 1.
“It’s really important for Roscommon to try and get up to the highest standard of football in Ireland, and that is Division 1,” Collins said.
“To be a top team you need to be able to compete consistently in Division One, so that is our goal and that is what we want to achieve. So getting up there is extremely important for sustained development in Roscommon.
“I realise for sure that we have a lot of work to do between now and then, and that it will be extremely difficult to compete with teams that have been there consistently, but I think we will do the work to achieve that, and we will have the players and the belief that we can do it.”
Reflecting on Roscommon’s League performances, Collins said there was room for improvement, but sounded confident that this could come.
"I think we need to be at a higher level consistently, for sure” - Neil Collins
“We had some good performances and we had some not-so-good performances,” he said. "So, it was a bit up-and-down, but I think that is the trend in the League sometimes for a lot of teams.
“We would have learned a lot from it. I think we need to be at a higher level consistently, for sure.”
In Kerry native Evans, Roscommon have a manager who can continue to inspire and motivate the players, according to Collins.
“John Evans is an experienced man, and he’s an experienced football man,” he said. “He’s a man of character and personality.
“And players are people, and they’ve got their own personalities, and he knows how to get on with people. And he knows how to give his charisma to players. And he’s an impressive man to deal with in that respect.
“And he also, of course, has a strong football knowledge to match with that, to build a strong relationship to achieve anything.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s game, Collins was clear that Roscommon were under no illusions about the scale of the challenge they face.
“Down have been an impressive footballing county as long as I can remember,” he said. “We know, coming to Croke Park, that Down are a very good team, so there is big respect there.”
