By Shaun Casey

THE competition for places in the Armagh panel is “ferocious at the minute” according to Stephen Sheridan.

The Forkhill man came in as a late replacement for clubmate Paddy Burns in Armagh’s six-point win over Tyrone in round two.

Several players remain sidelined through injury, with the likes of Oisin O’Neill, Ben Crealey and Ross McQuillan all still to come back in.

“The competition is ferocious at the minute. We have key personal to come back in, we have the likes of Oisin (O’Neill) coming back in around the middle as well,” he said.

“Ben Crealey, a bit of good news, his hamstring isn’t too bad, so he’s going to be back battling for his spot that I was lucky enough to come in and step in for (against Tyrone).

“If you want to take the foot off the gas in training during the week, somebody’s there to take your spot. That’s generally what we’re trying to build and that’s what the team and the management’s trying to push.

“It’s the next man up. If you’re not ready to do the task at hand, there’s somebody there willing to go. Look at last week we emptied the bench (against Dublin), we emptied the bench again this week and we’re trying to build a really good team culture.

“The strength of the team and the strength and depth of the team has been something that we’ve really pushed over the last 12 or 18 months.”

That squad depth has helped Armagh hit the ground running in 2022. They sit top of Division One with two wins from two after impressive victories over the last two All-Ireland champions Dublin and Tyrone.

“Four points, there’s teams get relegated on four points. We have a good want and a good team at the minute here. It was a good battle (against Tyrone). Conditions were awful for both teams.”

The terrific start to the season has left Armagh fans dreaming once again, but Sheridan insists the Armagh management won’t let the team get carried away.

Kieran McGeeney has insisted in recent weeks that nothing is won in January and February and there’s a long way to go in the season yet.

That’s the message ‘Geezer’ and his management team are driving into the squad ahead of Saturday evening’s showdown with Monaghan at the Athletic Grounds.

“It was a big high for everybody around the county (beating Dublin), but we have a strong management team in place that kept us pretty grounded.

“As much as last week probably looked to be good, there was a lot for us to work on and a lot of stuff we needed to tidy up.

“The management team were pretty clear on getting us grounded and getting us back down to where we needed to be coming into this battle here (against Tyrone).

“Because it’s Division One football now and if you’re not ready for it come game day you could be left wanting very, very quickly.”