Derry won't dwell on Dublin defeat says Brendan Rogers

Mickey Harte made SEVEN changes for the visit of the All Ireland champions to Celtic Park and Rogers stressed the importance of exposing as many players as possible to high profile, high intensity matches in order to develop added depth to the Oak panel for what promises to be a busy inter-county season.

"It wasn't an ideal game, we chased the game for large parts of it," explained the Slaughtneil player, "We never really got as much control of the ball that we would have liked to have, probably didn't turn over as many of their kick-outs as we would have like to.

"But, look, there were a lot of fresh boys there getting exposure against a good team. Maybe it was never going to be perfect but those are the lessons you have to learn. We still have two games to play and probably if you win one of them then you're in the league final so it's not the end of the world.

"We're probably in a position where we could try players and not many teams have that luxury. It's all about exposure and trying to get as many boys in and grow the panel as much as possible.

"We'll have a look at it, take some positives away but ultimately you do want to keep winning all the time, that's just where we are it."

Derry remain top of the table but are now only two points ahead of the trio of Dublin, Kerry and Mayo whom the Oak Leafers face on St. Patrick's Day in Castlebar before finishing with a home fixture against Roscommon.

It leaves Derry’s fate very much in their own hands in a division that is promises to be ultra competitive at both ends and despite the changes made by the Oak Leaf management team at the weekend, Rogers stressed they will be going out to win every match.

"You can say it is a cushion but ultimately we still wanted to come and win a game of football," added Rogers on the experimental nature of Derry's line-up, "You try to mix and match your style of play because certain players play different ways. Look, it just wasn't our day but it wasn't too difficult a defeat."