​Conor Glass facing a race against time to be fit for Ulster opener against Fermanagh

The Glen player pulled up only minutes into the second half of Sunday's Division final against Dublin in Croke Park with Rory Gallagher admitting afterwards a hamstring issue had forced his influential midfielder off.

“He nipped his hamstring," explained the Derry boss after Sunday's game, "It’s minor but with the championship only 13 days out; Same with Chrissy, he could have played today if it was a championship game," he added.

"With Conor, it was just get him out of there. It’s not a long-term injury, but it’s still gonna be a race against time. We won’t be taking any risks with him, it’s gonna be a long summer no matter what with the new format.

"It was obviously disappointing because I thought he started the game really well. One of the big pluses for ourselves is that in himself and Brendan (Rogers), we have a midfield that’s the real deal. In the first half the two of them were outstanding. You’re coming against Brian Fenton and James McCarthy, you’ve [Tom] Lahiff hanging about there, brilliant players.

"The Dublin goalkeeper caused us a lot of problems in Celtic Park and I thought we did really well, we made him go long an awful lot and did well on their kick-outs. We tired and losing Conor from the middle of the field and we had to chase it a bit more."Maybe they knew they had to get inside 30 or 40 yards to get more scores. We rode our luck a wee bit too bu t at the other end, Niall Loughlin and Ben (McCarron), we didn’t get points at times and Dublin are great at the last-ditch defending

With Derry assured of their place in the All Ireland Series, some critics have suggested it will take the gloss off the provincial championships but Gallagher doesn't agree, certainly not where Ulster is concerned.

“The Ulster Championship is massive," he explained, "You have local prestige. I think it gives you a serious ranking. I can tell you one thing, Dublin are gonna win Leinster, Kerry are gonna win Munster. I’d rather win Ulster so you’re ranked to avoid them. There’s no denying it. I think there’s a great prize for it. I think it’s a great structure for the championship now and worth going for."