Derry assistant manager Johnny McGuirk is confident that they can match Meath in the determination stakes in Saturday’s Christy Ring Cup semi-final.

The Athletic Grounds in Armagh hosts this intriguing clash as Meath head north as strong favourites to reach the final.

However, they will be wary of their Ulster opponents who McGuirk revealed have prepared very well for this game.

Derry must improve on their performance in their last outing where Wicklow beat them, which meant the Oak Leaf County scrapped through to the semi-finals courtesy of a better score difference than the Garden County.

Speaking to the Derry Journal, McGuirk, who is set to man the line once again in the absence of manager John McEvoy, who will be in the stands serving a suspension sustained earlier in the campaign, is confident that they can improve sufficiently to compete with the Royals.

“This game is proper championship,” said McGuirk. “Meath are going to be going at it hard, we will be going at it hard and the best team will win.

“There is a great mix of youth and experience in our panel, you see that in training and it works well in games, they bounce off each other. Those young lads are hurling since they could walk and nothing fazes them.

“Everyone of those lads love the sport so and we know what we are going to get from them. We’ll be geared up, we’ll do our homework on Meath and we’ll be ready. We’ll go at it and the best team will win.”

Follow the hoganstand.com live match tracker this weekend for latest score and minute-by-minute updates from the football and hurling championships.

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