Leitrim manager Terry Hyland said playing as much summertime football as possible was the best way for the county to improve following their two-point win over Wicklow in Carrick-on-Shannon this afternoon.
The 0-15 to 0-13 victory is only Leitrim's fourth ever in the qualifiers, though three of those have come in the past three years (the first also coming at home to Wicklow in 2012).
2019 has already been a positive year for Leitrim though the sobering loss to Roscommon in the Connacht championship rather dampened the enthusiasm that had accompanied the league run.
After today's satisfying win, Hyland admitted that Leitrim have a long way to improve to compete with teams on Roscommon's level but said getting as many championship games as possible was the best way to do that.
"I'm a realist. These lads need a lot more work in them to compete against the Roscommons of the world, from both a physical point of view and a football point of view.
"That's something that we're going to work on and these games will give us more time to work as a unit. And they will get better on that back of that.
"(Qualifiers mean) more games, it'll bring lads on, and it gets them against better opposition, it gets to think faster. It's summertime football which is something these lads haven't experienced in the last number of years. As long as it goes on, they will become better footballers."
Wicklow manager John Evans struck a generally positive note after his side's championship exit, praising the attitude of both teams and insisting he was determined to continue in his role.
The Leinster outfit registered only four points from play and were heavily reliant on the long range free-taking of goalkeeper Mark Jackson, and Evans said developing forwards from the underage ranks was a key priority in the years ahead.
"We did create three goal chances and you've got to take one of them at least. It was a great game of football. It just wasn't to be for us. Full credit to both teams, they went at it hammer and tongs.
"We certainly have to develop our forwards. But the spirit, the bonding that's there among the team. There's huge respect among the team for the county jersey. That's a great starting point. You can develop young fellas and those young fellas when they come onto the team, they'll see how important is to play for the county jersey.
"Kevin O'Brien is really working with the U17s, I'm working away with the U20s, now we're looking at developing those lads and the conveyor belt moves. And hopefully, and I'm very, very positive about this, there are a few good scorers on that conveyor belt. It's just about developing them."
