Offaly manager Pat Flanagan says there is a "buzz" around football in the county again after winning Division 4 but warns that it will all be in vain if they fail to beat Longford today.
The sides clash at O'Connor Park in the first round of the Leinster Championship (7pm throw-in) - a rematch of last month's fourth-tier decider, which Offaly won by 4-16 to 1-12.
"There is a bit of a buzz around the county again," he told RTÉ Sport. "There's a lot of talk about it.
"It has has lifted the whole set-up. And especially the players - they were buzzing after that game. But that's no good unless they perform the next day.
“To go to Croke Park and to perform the way we did, scoring 4-13 from play, was very exciting - but also for the players it was very rewarding, for the efforts that they put in.
“I’ve been saying it to them all along, that there is huge ability within the panel and within the team, and it’s just a matter of finding that. And I think we got it on the day.
“The next stage is to try and get that performance again.”
Flanagan believes that promotion was vital to restoring confidence in the county, but that winning a Leinster championship game for the first time since 2007 would be just as important.
"It’s our third meeting in seven weeks, so it’s going to be a game of cat and mouse" - Pat Flanagan
"I've met a number of fans who would have given up the league just to get a championship win. That's the psychology of a lot of people," he said.
"But if you're trying to develop a team, which I'm trying to do over the next few years, the progress out of Division 4 was necessary.
"I did say also that beating Longford in the championship was necessary. We've achieved our first goal and we'll go about our second.
"It's not going to be easy, but I think we have the players to do it, provided everything is right and provided they can perform to the best of their abilities."
The league decider was Offaly's first victory over their Midlands rivals in four attempts, however, and Flanagan is worried at the possibility of an ambush given the facile nature of the Croke Park victory.
"The fact that we're playing Longford [again] is probably not the best for the situation," he cautioned.
"People are a bit concerned about the match; that we [already] played them in Croke Park and it might have been a better idea if we had played another county.
“It’s our third meeting in seven weeks, so it’s going to be a game of cat and mouse, I think.
"We have won a game by 13 points. How do we approach it? Or how do we get the fellas back down to ground? Are we capable of performing to the same level?
“How can we change things around to get an edge on them? And how are they going to change things around to get an edge on us?
“I think we have plenty of football ability within us, and it’s just to make sure that, psychologically, we are well prepared to perform to whatever level is needed to get over the line on the day.
“The pressure of championship football will be thrown in on top of that, and Offaly hasn’t had a lot of success in the championship over the last number of years. So there’s a lot of things to add into the mix compared to the league final.”
The winners of tonight's tie advance to a quarter-final meeting with title holders Dublin at Croke Park, a choice of venue that Flanagan was highly critical of last week.
