​By John Harrington

Louth manager Pete McGrath doesn’t believe his team’s morale has been badly eroded by their relegation from Division Two of the Allianz Football League.

The Wee County lost all of their seven matches by an average of 10 points each, but McGrath is nevertheless confident they will give a good account of themselves against Carlow in the first round of the Leinster SFC on Sunday.

“It was a very sharp learning curve for a lot of our players, a sharp learning curve for myself as team manager but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," said McGrath.

“I certainly feel that our team has come through the league, come out the other end and we have learned a lot.

“The younger players, particularly, have experienced football at quite a high level and they'll be better for it.

“Going towards the championship, I can assure you morale is high, there is positivity, there is enthusiasm, there's confidence and we're looking forward to the game against Carlow.”

In contrast to Louth, Carlow had a very enjoyable spring, winning promotion from Division Four of the Allianz Football League.

But even though Louth lost all of their matches in Division Two, McGrath is adamant that experience of playing at a higher level makes them better prepared for the rigours of Championship football than a campaign spent in Division Four.

“I think that we will be better for that,” he said. “I think playing against the likes of Roscommon, Cork, Tipperary, Down and Cavan…for our players that was a very steep learning curve. And even though we lost those matches, as I said earlier we put it up to these teams for large parts of the games.

“I think as a consequence to that we will be a better team now than we were in the last week of January. And I think being exposed to football at that level, yeah that brings you on. Even though you’re losing matches, that brings you on.

“Potentially, losing matches can damage morale. Potentially, it can damage confidence. But I can assure you, that is not the case.”

His time with Louth has gotten off to a tough start, but McGrath has no doubts that better days lie ahead once he’s had more time to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of panel of players he’s working with.

“When you come from outside into a county, it's going to take a period of time to get a handle on players,” said McGrath.

“To me, most of the Louth players were complete strangers - I didn't know them individually or even by repute in many cases. You come in and get a group together and you're assessing them, cajoling them, coaching them.

“You're trying to guide them along a certain route. Objectives, targets - I would like to think that whenever I leave Louth, the county team will be in a good place, the jersey will be in a better place.

“That's a journey and like any journey, you will have forks in the road, you will have dips in the road, you will have highs, you will have lows.

“It's a question really of getting a group of players who will stick together, who will work hard to achieve unity and a sense of purpose and how far that leads, I can't tell, nobody can tell.

“That's the unpredictability of it. I would like to think that at the end of the term, whenever that is, people would say, 'Yeah, the county team and Louth football has progressed. It's in a better place now than when that man came'. Whatever that will be, that remains to be seen.”