Derry manager Damian McErlain is confident that his charges can learn a lot from playing Tyrone in the McKenna Cup semi-final on Sunday.

The Oak Leaf County booked their place in the last four courtesy of a 16-point win over Ulster University along with other results going their way.

McErlain is preparing his side for the NFL Division Four opener against Antrim on January 27th and feels that a clash with last year’s All-Ireland SFC finalists is ideal preparation for that game.

Speaking to the Derry Journal, he said: “It will be another game for us and we will get our university players back so it could be good preparation heading into the league.

“The game has to be approached the way we would approach any game - positively. We should have seven or eight men coming back, players we haven’t seen yet. We have ideas about how we want to shape the team.

“We have lads who have played very well in the three games we’ve played. The game gives us a chance to integrate the university players back into the squad again because that could have been difficult had we just a challenge match.”

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