Derry are unlikely to look outside the county in their quest to find a replacement for Damian Cassidy as football manager.

Clubs have until Sunday to submit their nominations, with county board chairman John Keenan expressing a preference for manager who "lives, eats and breathes" Derry football.

He said: "The man who gets the job will need to live, eat and breathe Derry football 24 hours a day. If he is in it for his own personal gain, then is not the man we are after. We want somebody who has Derry at heart.

"I feel very strongly that we have a pool of people who are very capable of doing the job. That can be seen by the amount of our coaches who are working outside the county. Seventy-five per cent of the Ulster Council's coaching staff are Derry people.

"We have people within our own county who are capable of doing the job. But apart from having the ability, they need to have the passion and the love for Derry football. They need to have a desire to see Derry going forward. That's the package we want.

"Lifting a cup will be a bonus, the main thing is that someone brings Derry out of where we are now."

Keenan said John Brennan would be considered for the post if he is nominated, despite the Lavey club's insistence that he would not be prepared to go through another interview process after being overlooked on two previous occasions. Tweet

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