If Cavan are to escape from the bottom tier of League football, Mickey Graham says they need to dispel the notion that the Breffnimen are solely a Championship team.
Both the Ulster and Munster champions from the 2020 season find themselves in Division Four with Cavan and Tipperary both dropping down following their relegation from Division Three last term.
The Premier County would need a swift upturn in their fortunes as they only have one point to show from their first two outings, but Cavan have two wins from two while their game against Sligo in Markievicz Park last Sunday fell foul to the weather.
Cavan’s Ulster title success in 2020 came off the back of a League campaign which saw them relegated from Division Two and they suffered back-to-back relegations after losing a play-off to Wicklow last Spring.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s clash with Carlow at Kingspan Breffni Park (2pm), Graham insists Cavan have no superiority complex in the basement division and knows they’ll have to fight for every point.
“No matter who you play, you always have to treat the opposition with respect,” said Graham.
“Sometimes with Cavan, when you’re expected to put in big performances, you end up getting turned over. When you least expect it, they’ll put in a performance.
“That’s a mindset thing that we’re trying to correct. Cavan’s League performances haven’t been consistent whereas our Championship performances have been.
“We need to be more consistent in the League then carry that into the Championship.
“Two years ago we were relegated, we ended up winning Ulster - football can be a funny game at times!”
Cavan started life in Division Four with a four-point win over Leitrim in Carrick-on-Shannon before scoring an impressive 0-17 to 1-8 home win over Wexford.
Last Sunday’s postponement may have checked Cavan’s momentum slightly, but Graham is hopeful they can make it three wins from three at the expense of the Barrowsiders.
“We are happy with certain aspects of our game, we are playing well in patches,” said Graham.
“We feel we are looking for more consistency in our performances. It is very hard to get that at this time of the year, especially in League football with the conditions and everything.
“It is more about rolling up your sleeves and grinding out results in tough conditions.
“Like any League, you’d be hoping to build more consistency as the League moves and that’s what we are looking for as the season progresses.
“The extra week has given us a bit of time to clear up a few knocks that we had.
“The other worry now is that we haven't played in two weeks so we are hoping that won’t affect our momentum too much.”
Graham has close to a clean bill of health with only Conor Smyth (hamstring) sidelined at present with key defender Ciaran Brady’s return to action imminent following his recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury.
