Aisling Doonan believes Cavan have shown this season that they are getting to grips with playing at senior level in the Ladies Football Championship.
Cavan joined the top flight of the Championship last year after winning the All-Ireland Intermediate title in 2013.
Last term they suffered a heavy defeat to Monaghan in their first senior game in Ulster and while they bounced back to beat Meath in the All-Ireland qualifiers, Laois ended their involvement in the Championship in the next round.
This year Cavan also crashed out of their province at the first hurdle, but only after extra-time against Tyrone, while they responded by handing Down a drubbing in the qualifiers.
And forward Doonan says Cavan, whose next outing will be against Monaghan in round two of the qualifiers on Saturday, feel they have started to find their feet as a senior team.
Doonan, back on the county scene this year after taking a break last season, declared: "There is a noticeable increase in the standard when you step up to senior level.
"I have seen it this year because I have got my first taste of it while other players saw it last season. Compared to intermediate, the game is that bit faster and you get less time on the ball but I think we have began to adapt better.
"Our squad has learned a lot and we have been putting our lessons into practice.
"We have lifted our work-rate in games which has been a big help. While we were confident that we had the required skills levels, we realised that we needed to apply ourselves more.
"Also the management have put a lot into things like statistics and video analysis to try and give us an extra edge.
"They are also excellent at giving us goals and making sure we do everything we can to achieve them.
"Overall we want to build bit by bit to try and establish Cavan as a senior side for the long-term because we have strong under age structures in the county that are bound to produce talented players well into the future."
"At the moment Ulster is probably the most competitive of all of the provinces but we do not mind. It is helping with our development and it can stand to us"
Cavan will look to make their mark in the Ulster Championship over the coming years and follow in the footsteps of Donegal.
Four years ago Donegal won the All-Ireland Intermediate final while last month they claimed a first Ulster Championship as a senior outfit. And Doonan admits the impressive progress Donegal have made can give Cavan encouragement.
She added: "Donegal have been fantastic this season and it is hard to believe they were an intermediate team as recently as four years ago.
"It shows what can be done with the right effort and certainly we will be aiming to move on and do something the same.
"At the moment Ulster is probably the most competitive of all of the provinces but we do not mind. It is helping with our development and it can stand to us."
Monaghan are sure to provide Cavan with another big challenge when the neighbours go head-to-head at Kingspan Breffni Park, where a place in the TG4 All-Ireland quarter-finals will be up for grabs.
In the last round Cavan had it all too easy against Down as they came out on top on a score-line of 10-25 to 0-3. But Doonan expects a much closer encounter against Monaghan.
Doonan concluded: "There was not too much that we were able to take out of the Down game but the most important thing was that we got the victory to get ourselves back on track.
"Certainly the Monaghan game promises to be a big test for us but it is one we are relishing. They beat us by 21 points in Ulster last year but I would like to think this game will be much tighter.
"Monaghan have a strong tradition and a talented side but I do not have any worries at all about us facing them.
"If we can manage to put in the work that is needed and win our personal duels then we should have a great chance of coming out on top.
"Hopefully the fact we will be playing at home will help us too. The county board has been doing a lot to try and get as much support as possible for us and there should be a decent crowd there.
"The backing of the fans could be worth a few points for us and that might prove to be crucial come full-time."
