In Focus: Seán Moran talks to Armagh captain Kieran McGeeney about the prospect of playing in the qualifiers

Next Sunday sees the draw for the first round of this year's football qualifier. You would have got stratosphere odds on the qualifier line-up featuring some of the names in the hat this weekend. Foremost among them will be defending All-Ireland champions Armagh, rudely evicted from the Ulster title race by Monaghan.

"We're trying to come to terms with coming through the back-door system," says 2002 Footballer of the Year Kieran McGeeney whose inspiring captaincy was missed against Monaghan because of a hamstring injury.

"The back-door system is a matter of fact now. It's not like it was in the first year or even last year when people were finding it hard to get used to. The minute teams lose now the first thing on their minds - as well as the defeat - is that 'well we've still got a chance here'. Teams are more up for it than in the past."

Armagh were early victims in what has been a month of surprises, particularly in the Ulster championship, and have been joined by other heavyweight names, which will, McGeeney agrees, make the draw a lot more hazardous than usual.

"You look at it this year and there's teams like Cork, ourselves, Roscommon, Meath or Westmeath, Derry, Cavan - some very strong teams. But at this stage it's all about winning."

He is confident his hamstring injury will have healed by the time the first-round matches are played, on June 7th. Up until the day of the Monaghan match he felt that he might be all right to play.

"I thought I was going to be fit and that was on the morning of the game. I was even warming up in the back and thought I was okay to go but I nicked it again, which was frustrating because it's hard to watch. I'm not good at watching from the sidelines. But it's an insult to other players to think that if you're not fit you can come on for someone who is, no matter how good you think you are. I wouldn't have made any difference.

"I hope to be ready for the next day. But there's not much point in me thinking I'm 80 per cent because in today's game if you're off the pace you're gone even at full fitness. Some of the half-forward lines all seem to be speed merchants so I need to be at full fitness or I'm no use to Armagh."

This won't be Armagh's first experience of the qualifiers. In the inaugural year of the system the county came through to face Galway in an epic match at Croke Park. It is a defeat that still bothers McGeeney.

"I would say that it was one of my biggest disappointments. I really thought we could win the All-Ireland that year but Galway beat us by a point and went on to win it themselves. You come to terms with being out of your provincial championship. We know that it's going to be tough.

Everyone does the same physical work in Gaelic football, it's mental preparation you worry about. We lost a few games there on the trot (the last four matches of the league campaign) and it affected us mentally. When the game was tight and could have gone either way we couldn't do what we did last year."

After a year in which they recorded a series of thrillingly narrow victories, Armagh have prompted questions as to how they can reproduce the energy and aggression of those performances. McGeeney is aware of the reservation and has an answer.

"When people use the word 'hunger' or 'heart' it's just another word for mental preparation - you have to win at all costs. Maybe part of that was missing and Monaghan had that particular edge on us. But we got beaten and we're out in the wilderness again and have to regain that mental edge or we're not going to win games."