Brendan Rogers expects Derry to get back on track after nose-diving from Division 1 to 4 of the Allianz League in the space of four years.

The Oak Leafers' fall from grace has been well-documented, but Rogers believes there are advantages to playing in the bottom tier.

“We have a lot of young lads there with a lot of medals behind them, a lot of experience playing at inter-county level through All-Ireland series in U21 and minor, and in the last couple of years some of them have had a bit of senior experience,” the Slaughtneil full back told the Irish News.

“So we’re definitely looking to build on improving and maybe the best thing for those young lads is to be playing in Division 4. It’s not the best place for Derry football, but as a building block for those players, it could be just what we need.

“I think the demands of the modern game can be detrimental to young players, and they might not realise the benefits of sacrificing things like a social life as students.

“I’m not saying that we have a team of partiers, but the county lifestyle can be very much different to that of a club one, and maybe it will take a bit of blending in to a more dominant role, although at a lower grade, to get that culture set in, of working hard and becoming a leader.

“Whenever you can blend that culture into a team, it can definitely drive you forward in hopefully what we will achieve in the next couple of years.”

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