McKaigue preparing for 'massive task' against Cork

Derry coach Chrissy McKaigue said his side are gearing up for a "massive task" as they host Cork in Sunday's crunch Division Two match (13:00 GMT).

Cork lead the way at the top of the second tier after making it four wins from four against Meath last time out.

Meanwhile Derry bounced back from their opening day loss to beat Tyrone, Kildare and Offaly and sit second in the table.

"We're happy with large elements of the performance (against Offaly) and we've had opportunities to play other lads too. The biggest thing for us is we got through the games relatively unscathed in terms of injury," McKaigue told BBC Sport NI.

"Now we've got to really prepare properly and diligently for Cork because we understand that is going to be a massive task with their size and their athleticism and there seems to be a bounce back in Cork football."

The Oak Leaf County failed to win a league or championship game throughout the duration of the 2025 season.

However, they seem to have turned a corner under returning boss Ciaran Meenagh.

"Look the biggest thing in this league or in any league is not getting too high with the highs, not getting too low with the lows," the Derry coach continued.

"We were bitterly disappointed with many aspects of our performance against Meath the first day out. We sort of dusted ourselves off, got a really combative sort of gritty performance against Tyrone probably the quality at times we could brush up on.

"We got a really gritty performance against Kildare and testing conditions every way you would say, we made sure that we gave Offaly the full respect which we did, we prepared well and we got a good start. I think then that naturally led the game to peter out a bit."