Donegal manager Rory Gallagher is ready for "the only show in town" as Donegal's championship begins with a Ballybofey clash against Fermanagh on Sunday (2pm).
Gallagher's troops had a decent league campaign that saw them fall to a swashbuckling Dublin in the Division 1 semi-final, and are chasing their fourth provincial crown in six years.
They're the last county in Ulster to begin their summer charge, with Gallagher straining at the leash to taste the cut and thrust of championship football again.
"With the best will in the world Gaelic football and hurling have the longest pre-seasons and that includes the McKenna Cup and the league," Gallagher told RTÉ Sport.
"We treat the games seriously, we want to win them, but there’s only one show in town and that starts on Sunday.
"We’ve built fitness, worked on our style of play and obviously over the last month we’ve fine-tuned that"
"We’re just looking forward to the game. It’s up to other people to decide who’s favourites or not. We’re really looking forward to the first round of the Ulster championship and Fermanagh will be a formidable challenge. They had a great win against Antrim in the preliminary round."
The Belleek man admits there'll be plenty of focus close to home on the encounter with his native county.
Gallagher played inter-county football for seven years with the Erne men, but he said his colours are firmly nailed to the Donegal mast these days, and backed the team's senior servants to keep proving the doubters wrong.
“With my own family there’s a few connections but you very much just move them to one side. I’m very much in the Donegal camp over the last five or six years and we’re just really looking forward to it.
"We’re the last team out in Ulster and it’s exciting to get going.
“We don’t pay too much attention to [people saying some players are past their prime].
"They’ve been saying that for a few years, they’ve been expecting some of our lads to retire the last three years but the majority of them are still there. We feel we’ve prepared really well.
"We’ve built fitness, worked on our style of play and obviously over the last month we’ve fine-tuned that… and really honed in on what Fermanagh are good at. They’re going to be a huge challenge."
