Ger Brennan: 'Louth there to compete, not to make up the numbers'

Maybe not heady days for Louth football, but their route to an All-Ireland quarter-final underlines the progress that has been made in recent years, first under Mickey Harte, and now with Ger Brennan at the helm.

If Patrick Kavanagh were alive today and observed the aftermath of Louth's win over Cork on Sunday, he may have taken pen to paper to capture what was happening in his native Inniskeen. The Wee County are joining the big guns across a weekend where more eyes will focus on what they will bring. A first-ever championship clash with Donegal, in the quarters, adds a little bit more to the narrative.

For their manager, just days after that emotionally-charged win over the Rebels, it's about making sure his side are fully focused on the job in hand.

Speaking to the media ahead of Louth's first-ever quarter-final appearance, Ger Brennan said: "I suppose starting off my career, we [Dublin] used to get the crap kicked out of us at the quarter-final stage by Tyrone or Kerry, or Cork when they were motoring well back then too.

"We thankfully managed to break through eventually during my own playing career. With that experience and familiarity, and the experience of the management team, there is a wealth of knowledge there of how to emotionally manage the group and how to ensure that they'll be as fresh physically and mentally as possible with the seven-day turnaround when they take to the field at Croke Park at 1.15.

"The way you go about that really is you have to acknowledge the achievement of the group. I think they are...incredibly...I'd say they're the most successful Louth team in 67 years, when you look at it in black and white. That's obviously a huge achievement for this group and for a county like Louth.

"So that has