The county under 21 team have a tough assignment ahead of them this weekend as they travel to Celtic Park to tackle Derry in the quarter final of the provincial championship.
Derry of course have always been one of the strongest forces in underage grades in the county, invariably producing first rate minor teams and these have developed on, to become equally formidable under 21 squads.
The Oakleaf county have a clutch of feeder schools, St Patrick's Maghera and the two Magherafelt colleges plus a number of solid secondary schools to provide the constant supply line of talent onto the county scene.
So in those circumstances Fermanagh's pool of resources looks distinctly shallow indeed.
But Fermanagh have always had the ability to overcome these daunting odds and over the years there has been a reasonable measure of success in the grade, this level in fact providing the county with the only provincial championship crowns.
Last year there was a superb ambush job engineered against a highly regarded Down team who were dispatched in the fixture played in Lisnaskea.
So there is a record there of rising to the demands of the occasion and the team travelling to Celtic Park will certainly entertain the belief that they can cause another upset.
There are a number of injury concerns at the moment and it is doubtful if the Michael Cassidy led management team will be able to field what would be considered a first choice selection.
Among the players who could be classed as having only a moderate chance of recovering in time for the weekend are Shane McAloon and Marty O'Brien but there is greater optimism that Barry Mulrone and Stephen Carters will be in the starting lineup.
Preparation for Saturday's clash has seen the side involved in a number of challenge games, Connacht duo Sligo and Leitrim the most recent opposition.
There was to be a comprehensive home success over Leitrim while away to Sligo the team was pipped by a late surge from the home squad.
Enough evidence then from those two matches that Fermanagh possess a solid enough panel which will not be easily turned over.
Manager Cassidy has been disappointed however that at no stage of the preparation programme has he been able to work with a full squad.
That said he is upbeat about the prospects.
He is unwilling to single out individual players but acknowledges that the presence of half back Barry Mulrone is especially important to boost the team's chances.
Mulrone has had experience at senior county level and he provides a strong physical presence in the heart of the defence at centre back.
Elsewhere in the back division, the full back line comprised of Niall McGovern, Michael Jones an Mark McGovern have been consistently steady while much will be looked to from Darren McQuaid in the middle of the park. A probable partner for McQuaid in this critical sector could be Brian Og Maguire who has recently returned from injury.
As already noted a question mark hovers over the availability of Devenish's Marty O'Brien who had been operating to great effect in this area.
In the attack one of the liveliest forwards has been the fleetfooted Ciaran Leonard who has emerged as a specialist corner forward with a tremendous eye for scores.
In the full forward slot should be Enda Ferris while the supporting cast includes Paul McCusker, Lee McQuaid and Stephen Carters.
A selection then that has the potential of posing a major test for Derry. The home side will inevitably go in as favourites but last season, that was also the case with Down.
Fermanagh then succeeded in raising their game to meet the challenge and they should again be able to step up to the mark.
If they can make a solid start which would bolster their self belief they can make this match a very tight tussle indeed.
