Conor Glass convinced Derry are still a top team

Conor Glass reckons a good Ulster Championship campaign would see Derry’s confidence spiral and could act as a springboard for their summer.

Glass (28) says Derry still see themselves as “one of the top teams in Ireland” and if they aren’t striving to compete at that level they have no business playing football.

The Glen All Star can tell by the confidence of his team mates that “the scar tissue” from a 2025 campaign where they didn’t win a League or Championship game has cleared.

They’ve got their wake up calls already this year though with a "frustrating" defeat in Louth coming after they felt “something just clicked” in racking up 1-31 in a 20-point victory over Cork at Find Insurance Celtic Park.

Ciaran Meenagh’s side rounded off their Division 2 campaign with a victory over Cavan and now face Antrim in the Ulster Quarter-Final this weekend.

“To put in a poor performance against Louth it sort of brought us back down to Earth a bit,” said Glass.

“But league isn’t everything. We were in this situation in 2022, in that we felt like we had a really good league campaign. I think we finished with 11 points that year, and didn't get promoted.

“So, we know how important the Ulster Championship is going to be. If we get a good Ulster campaign, it could springboard your summer. It was frustrating after the National League, but it's not the be-all and end-all.”

Glass says that personally he struggled with the 2025 season as losing week on week wasn’t something he has never experienced in his football career.

“We cherish victories more so now, in that we're not looking too far ahead,” he continued.

“That's probably a good thing that it brought us back down to Earth, and I think our next success will probably be the sweetest because we've had so much hard work, so much heartbreak over the last 24 months.”

Derry’s Round 2 victory over Tyrone in late January was huge but it was edgy as they attempted to finally get over the line in a game and get that losing monkey off their back.

Their last win in league or championship had come in June 2024 against Westmeath.

“I think it was the hurt after the Meath game as well,” explains Glass. “As a team and as a coaching staff, we felt like we were in a really good position. We had a really good pre-season. We had bodies back.

“Boys were playing really good stuff in training. I think we just rocked up to Croke Park thinking, everything's good, it's just going to click. It was probably the best thing for us.

“We just came back to Earth. Ciaran (Meenagh) challenged us as players. We had a really good week leading into Tyrone in terms of training and the Tyrone game.

“It wasn’t easy. We played the better football in the first half, and we still went in two points down. We were playing really good football, but the results just weren't going our way.

“There was a lot of scar tissue as such, so regardless if it was a one-point victory or a ten-point victory that day, as Derry people, we just wanted to get over the line.

“You could just tell by the celebrations after, it just meant a lot to us. Not only as players, but as Derry fans in general.”

Speaking about how boss Meenagh challenged them as players, Glass continued: “Sometimes when your confidence is down, it’s probably not the best thing to go after players. Some players don't deal with it that way.

“But Ciarán has a relationship with us from our previous tenure that he could do that. It was on us as leaders, me as captain, Gareth (McKinless) as vice-captain and the rest of the leadership group to take that on our shoulders.

“It was our fault. So we had to push the standards now.”

Glass says players can’t accept mediocrity and have to challenge themselves.

“It challenges you individually,” he said. “It’s not a nice place to be. It's in video meetings, showing you instances or actions that aren't accepted.

“It's pointing you out in front of the whole group and saying this can't happen again, sort of job. It's usually the leaders and the older players that take that brunt.

“But it's challenging the younger players too, because once they've seen that the leaders are getting challenged, they can't fall into that trap.

“It's pushing standards on the pitch, too in terms of training. It's players holding those standards, driving other players - not accepting mediocrity in terms of actions.

“It's a combination of things. It's not an easy thing to deal with. It's not a quick fix either. It can't just happen overnight.

“This team, our squad, thrive on being challenged, thrive on hard work. That was what we were brought up on.

“That's what we got our success from in 2022 and 2023. Just raw doggedness in that any time we train we're going 100%.

“That's what Ciarán's been brought up on. That's what Loughmacrory (Meenagh’s club) were at this year. It's just what he's known. That’s what this group wants and it’s what we get our best success from.”