BY RONAN SCOTT

r.scott@gaeliclife.com

A former county minor manager has warned Armagh fans not to expect too much too soon from the up and coming stars in the county.

Armagh host Dublin on Sunday at Crossmaglen and must disprove all those who say that they are on the slide. A clash with the Leinster champions and Division 2 leaders will be the perfect platform to prove to everyone that they are not as weak as everyone makes out.

The evidence for Armagh's critics is plentiful though. A poor run in the Dr McKenna Cup suggested that the Orchard County lack bite without their Crossmaglen contingent. That's a common complaint against the team.

Many people in the county expect big things from the younger contingent but Paul Kelly, who coached most of the up and coming players on the team whe he was minor county manager, has warned people to be patient.

"There has been a lot of time and effort put into developing young players in the county. Myself and Denis Hollywood, who is on the management team with Peter McDonnell, brought a lot of players through at minor level, but those players still have to mature," he said.

Kelly was eager to point out that while many of them have been breaking onto the senior panel, Finian Moriarty, Brendan Donaghy and Charlie Vernon for example, it is still too early to write them off if they don't deliver this year.

"It is a huge step up to take between minor and under 21 up to senior," he added.

"I would suggest that they need a lot of time and the right coaching in order to develop into senior county players."

The danger is that on Sunday, when the younger contingent meet Dublin, they may make mistakes and as a result suffer the backlash from a fanbase so eager for success.

However, while Kelly believes that would be unfair, those who have the most expectation weighing upon them will deliver.

"Players win and lose all the time. Whatever the result, it will prepare them for the future. I believe that there is no better man than Peter McDonnell to have there to coach these players and bring them on," said Kelly.

However, while the younger players are the future of this Armagh team Kelly believes they will have to earn their place no matter how good they are.

"There are senior players who have been around a long time. They won't want to give up their place on the team for anyone. The younger footballers are going to have to do it in training if they want to win their place," he added.

Those who do get a chance to play on Sunday, will have no better platform to prove how good they are than a game against Dublin. But win or lose it would do no harm to take heed of Kelly's appeals to be patient. Armagh may have slipped up in the past few months but only a fool would write them off altogether.