Kernan's Orchard ready to Erne revenge for their quarter-final defeat
His confidence comes not so much from winning the Allianz Football League for the first time, more from a conviction that they are much better prepared to take on the team which dumped them out at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage last season.
Agreeing there is pressure on his side to justify their favouritism, Kernan argues that there will be much more pressure on Fermanagh to live up to the reputation they established for themselves last season.
"Winning the League was a bonus. Survival in Division One was the number one objective and secondly, if we could qualify for the play-off stages,'' he said.
"In Ulster, every game you play is tough and Fermanagh have added strength to their panel with the two Gallaghers and having Ryan Keenan back. They will be fiercely confident too. It will be all about who will be best able to cope with the pressure."
It's easy for Kernan to justify his confidence. He has seen individual players - full-forward Ronan Clarke for example - recover the type of form they showed all through 2002.
And he knows enough about them to be assured that they won't make the same mistakes as they did when they met last in Croke Park.
What brought about their downfall in that game was complacency, he said.
"At half-time we certainly felt things were going badly. Enda (McNulty) had been sent off after being 0-5 to 0-1 up, two or three frees were given against us and I could see the life was coming into Fermanagh. They believed they could win this match and they were getting stronger all the time. Contrary to what we would normally do, we gave the ball away so many times.''
Over the course of the League, Kernan says that they all worked hard to put things right for this year. The main priority was to achieve a greater degree of consistency and to date he has every reason to be feel satisfied that they have managed that.
"Eight players scored against Wexford. It's not a matter of shoot on sight, but give the ball to the man in the best position,'' he said.
"While it works out some days for us, I'm sure the game won't be as open on Sunday. It could be down to one or two points. But we will be prepared for that, to grind out a result.''
Kernan doesn't feel that his team has peaked too soon. In fact, while acknowledging that the display in the League final was exceptional, he's happy to think that there's more in his players.
"Hopefully we can do that. Our training schedule was disrupted to a certain extent when we couldn't have the week away (in La Manga) and that's why I feel there is more in the boys. I think there is more we can do in sharpening the boys up and John McCluskey, our trainer, is working on that. If we get over Fermanagh we would have a month and maybe we can do something about it.''
Individually, players have worked to expand their game and develop their style of play. Steven McDonnell is a prime example, his manager says.
"People should realise that he is a young lad, only 25 and it's a learning process. Like everybody else he had his bad days in the past too. But, he has matured. He has learned an awful lot over the last few years.
"Even speaking to him, talking about the game, you can see he is growing in stature all the time. And, like the rest of the boys, he is a treat to work with."
"Oisin McConville is coming back to his best and John McEntee took a full 12 months to get over his injury. It's a plus to have all these men in a fit condition.''
Equally, Kernan accepts that there has been a big improvement in Clarke's form and that he has proved the perfect foil for McDonnell.
"If you look at Ronan, who had a bad two years by anybody's standard with injuries and a dip in form, a lot of the scores Stevie has got have come off Ronan's hard work. The two of them complement each other."
The manager's son Aaron makes his championship debut on Sunday, while his brother Stephen will have to a wait a little longer.
Another son, Paul, scored the winning goal in the decisive second test in the U-17 International Rules Series against Australia down in Fitzgerald Stadium six weeks ago.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
