Derry hurlers wait on U20 trio ahead of London visit to Celtic Park

All three were an integral part of Ryan O'Neill's historic All Ireland 'B' winning side last season and carried that form into McGarvey's senior set up this year with some impressive displays as Derry won their opening two Division 2B matches to go two points clear of the Exiles at the top.

Victory for McGarvey's men this weekend would all but guarantee a top three finish, the requirement to secure Derry a spot in next season's restructured Division Two, and while the scheduling of the two matches 24 ours apart is far from ideal, the Oak Leaf boss believes his panel has the resources to manage both.

"We’re a bit concerned with the U20s playing on Saturday," explained the Lavey native, "It just means Aimon, James and Ruairi will have to be managed on Sunday.

"They will all definitely play in the U20 semi-final so it’ll be a case of seeing how they come through that one and then making a decision after it. If they come through okay then they’ll be in contention to play Sunday, but if they don't we'll leave them out. We won't take risks."

While Sean Kelly, Eamon Conway and Sean Francis Quinn remain sidelined, McGarvey will have Sean Cassidy and Christy McNaughton back after the pair missed the victory over Donegal in Letterkenny. And even though two points should sort promotion, McGarvey is adamant his side want to go up as champions.

"A win this weekend should all but guarantee a spot in the top three, barring a set of freak results over the final two games," agreed McGarvey, "If we win on Sunday we should be pretty much sure of top three but there are no bones about it, we want to win the league.

"London are sitting second and had a big win over Wicklow but lost away to Roscommon which was probably a bit of a shock. But look, if they come with the team that played against Wicklow, or that played against us last year, they're a good side with some really good players.

"You're not always sure what you'll face until London arrive but they have some very good players. (Jack) Goulding is a cracking player, Sean Glynn is a cracking player so they have plenty of talent.

"But there's no point telling lies; if we come with the right attitude, we've trained really hard and are really well prepared - we're trying to put a consistency to our performances so that we’re performing at that level every week and we've haven't got to where we'd like to be yet. It's about getting that consistency every game, not dropping off here and there.

"When you drop off that's where mistakes happen but, no, I'm hopeful we’re in good enough shape to get two points on Sunday and that would set us up for a place in the league final."

Despite two wins from two games against Tyrone and Donegal and being the only team on maximum points in Division 2B, the Derry boss admitted there was still plenty to work on ahead of the Exiles' visit.

"The Donegal match was a funny one even watching it back," he explained, "I felt we were outplayed first half but watching it again we were still having chances. For every time Donegal scored we were maybe having two chances to reply but there was a lot of poor decision-making in our shooting and poor execution.

"Overall, as much as I thought at the time were were being outplayed, we probably weren't that bad. Over the course of the match, and including the two goals we did get, we had seven or maybe eight chances or half chances for a goal.

"A couple of times we overdid it; we didn't hit shots when they were on or tried a pass too many - just small details that will matter when the games get tighter.

"When it comes down to a one or two point game, all the little decisions that you didn't get right count against you, so we have to tidy a few things up but overall we're quite happy with how we're playing. Now it's just about putting it together consistently."