KILDARE have often promised more than they have delivered and that makes forecasting a revival a highly hazardous business. Yet there is a spirit now in the county which has led some to believe that it is not wrong to hope for the new dawn.

Among the squad itself there is a natural caution about such prospects, but Glen Ryan, their youthful captain from the Round Rowers club, believes such hopes are not misplaced.

"Everybody now realises that fitness and determination are needed to make any progress in sport and Gaelic football is no exception. Look at Offaly at the moment. They are flying and topping the fourth division and it will take a very good team to beat them.

"So far we have had only one club match since the Christmas break and some of us had an outing with Leinster in the Railway Cup. As far as training is concerned we want to get into the playoff stage of the National League and use that to build up for the championship. Laois beat us last year and we don't want a repeat of that when we meet them in the first round again in Croke Park.

"At the moment we are a good deal short of top fitness, but we will build up gradually. We train on Tuesday and Thursday and Mick O'Dwyer is usually at all of our sessions. He has a great effect on the players. Personally, I could listen to him all nights" he says.

Training for the Kildare team is at two venues - Hawksfield in Newbridge and the Army gymnasium at The Curragh. "We vary between outdoor and indoor training and we do a good deal of work with the ball," he says.

The squad has a good record for training. Ryan says that it would be foolish not to have strict discipline. "After all, if Mick O'Dwyer can travel more than 200 miles from Waterville it would be stupid for somebody to start making excuses for not turning up when he lives only a few miles down the road. There is no room for ducking and diving as far as training is concerned."

Such an attitude will cause no surprise coming from a schoolteacher who teaches history, English and religion at the Newbridge Academy.

A single man of 24, his job - and football take up most of his time. He emphasises the importance of being in the right frame of mind as well as being fit.

He believes that the fact that Mick O'Dwyer has agreed to have a second stint at managing and training the Kildare team has convinced the players that he believes in them and that he believes they can be successful.

"He is very thorough in what he does and he leaves nothing to chance. As far as the squad is concerned it is fairly settled, but I'm sure that if Mick spotted a promising player he would bring him in," he says.

He points out that the team is comparatively young.

"I have been around for a while, since 1990 in fact, and I'm only 24. Others like Martin Lynch and Johnny McDonald are regarded as veterans, but are still in their early 20s. Then there are players like Eddie and Paul McCormack, Derek Maher and Leonard Donlon.

"These are regular team members, but we all know that some of the other lads are anxious to get in the team and that nobody's place is completely safe," he says. "Everybody now knows that success will not come without hard work. What we are doing is building up gradually and hoping that we can to reach the play offs. At the same time we have to realise that we can't expect to beat teams like Derry without putting in the effort.

"The situation is that if we lose our matches against Derry, Meath and Donegal we could be relegated. If Derry lose on Sunday they could be relegated. For that reason I believe they will be very much fired up for this match.

"They could also get into the play off if the beat us and follow up that with wins over Donegal and Meath. Nothing is certain and we have to take each match on its merits. A place in the play offs would guarantee more matches and would be welcome from a financial point of view. I am confident that the players are all determined to go on winning, with the championship as our ultimate goal," he says.