Kerry confirm Easter warm-weather training camp in Algarve

Kingdom footballers to return to Portugal for Championship prep at the same exclusive resort used by Irish rugby team

The Campus training facility at the Quinta do Lago resort on the Algarve

KERRY will utilise the Easter break to get in a four-day training camp in the Algarve - whether they make it to the Allianz League Division 1 final or not.

Kingdom manager Jack O'Connor has confirmed that they will return to The Campus facility at the Quinta do Lago resort at the end of March - the same one the IRFU use for the national rugby squad. 

The dates are likely to be around March 26th with a return on Easter weekend. The only complication would be if Kerry found themselves in a Division One decider, which is slated for Easter Sunday, March 31st. But the Kerry boss confirmed that such an eventuality will not change their schedule.

The gym at The Campus

Said O'Connor: "We have a training camp planned, and that will go ahead regardless, whether we are in a league final or not. It's important to get the players away in a professional environment for three or four days. The problem with winter and spring training here is things get rushed, in bad weather, you can't have fellas around in a huddle while you explain stuff to them. So you need a situation where you can slow things down – not rushing from work or back to college."

For Kerry, six points appears to be the magic target in terms of avoiding a relegation scrap, and they will be looking to grab their second win in Saturday's glamour tie against Mayo in Tralee, On subsequent weekends, they travel to Croke Park to face Dublin, and then entertain Tyrone in Killarney. 

"No Division One game is easy. If you took four points out of six from that block of three games, you'd be happy enough. Six points kept us up last year."

Recovery time.

The Clifford brothers David and Paudie are in line to start on Saturday having got minutes into their legs in Clones last Sunday week.

"There was a bit of noise about involving them for the Monaghan game, but the lads were in training for the bones of a month. We had to start them sometime and we got some game time into them. You couldn’t realistically flake them into a high-profile, high-paced game like Mayo from the start if they had no ounce of game time," O'Connor said. "We were glad and they were glad to get a bit of game time."

The returning Diarmuid O’Connor is expected to start at midfield with Joe O'Connor, but with Stefan Okunbor back in training after an injury setback, Kerry have broadened their options for the engine room. O'Connor also name-checked Dingle's Barry 'Dan' O'Sullivan this week for the steadying impact he's having when introduced.

"Diarmuid would now be coming to an age of the front line midfielder," O'Connor mused. "He will grow with the responsibility. Joe (O'Connor) has done very well so far and Barry Dan has done really well coming into games. Plus Sean O’Brien has huge potential, so they are the four options we are looking at in the short term.

"Generally speaking we are very happy with the attitude of the players. We are constantly trying to get them to the position where they drive the standards in training, and by and large they are doing that. The age profile is good. Lads are coming to a stage of their career to know what’s at stake here. They are not young anymore, a lot of them are in their mid-twenties, and we feel that their attitude is spot on."

General view of The Campus at Quinta do Lago