WITH five Ulster teams in the mix, the battle for Division Two will be intriguing and Stefan Campbell expects Armagh to be in the frame for promotion by the end of it.
Campbell has been involved in two relegation campaigns with the Orchard men (from Division One in 2012 and to Division Three in 2014), but he says last season’s Division Three champions are determined to continue their upward momentum.
Armagh begin their campaign against Meath in Navan on Sunday week and ‘Soupy’ is chomping at the bit to get back into action after an injury-interrupted 2015 which he described as “a write-off”.
“I did the ligaments in the tendon of my ankle. I was doing rehab and, believe it or not, I went to trap a ball and it snapped my ankle,” he explained.
“I’ve done a lot of pool work on it, a lot of movement - I believe that we have one of the best physios in the country in Paul Carragher. The timeframe for my injury would usually be eight-to-10 weeks and he had me back for seven, but I think the Donegal [Ulster Championship] game came around too soon for me that time last year, it was one of my first games back.
“I almost pushed myself too hard for the Qualifiers, so last year was a write-off for me personally. I have started off on a brighter note this year [eight points from three Dr McKenna Cup games] and I am looking forward to the campaign.”
Last season, the Orchard men trekked across the country to Limerick, Wexford, Clare and Sligo. This year, they’ll cross swords with Ulster rivals Tyrone, Derry, Cavan and Fermanagh in the league and that means less time spent on the team bus, which Campbell sees as a bonus.
“You aren’t travelling as far, which means less time travelling and that means less time spent on a bus, so you should be fresher going into games,” he said.
However, the flip side is that every ball will be a battle: “There is not going to be one easy game," he added.
"I was looking at the fixtures and it says it all that Fermanagh are the rank outsiders in the division and, given where they have come from in the last 12 months, that tells you that every game is going to be a dog-fight, especially the Ulster fixtures.
“We will not be treating any team differently. If we are in the bottom three, it will be an unsuccessful campaign. We see ourselves as one of the top two or three teams in the division and we intend to give it a good rattle.”
The Clan na Gael clubman says it’ll be crucial that Armagh establish a “winning mentality” early on and warns that last year’s standards won’t be good enough to keep the side in Division Two.
“I think it’s just important to get a winning mentality,” he said.
“If you are winning games, you are going to go into the next game confident whereas, if you are constantly scrapping, you are fighting against relegation. If you are constantly getting beat, you are not going to be 100 per cent going into the next game.
“If you are at the bottom of the table, the players are going to be edgy, the crowd are going to be on your back and you are going to end up making mistakes because of that. If you are winning, the crowd is on your side, players will express themselves more and they will flourish.”
He added: “If we play the same way that we did in Division Three last year, we will be relegated this year.
“If we play the way we played the way we did last year - when we were at 50 or 60 per cent and still got promoted - but then we shouldn’t have been a Division Three team in the first place.”
