​Promotion back to Division One is within reach for Armagh as they take on Cavan

And just like that, it’s round six of the Allianz Football League.

In a matter of weeks, Armagh have gone from preparing to face Louth in the opening game of the competition, to being one victory away from promotion back up to Division 1, which they will achieve if they defeat Cavan on Saturday night.

To get to this point, Armagh have defeated Louth, Meath, Kildare and Fermanagh and earned a draw against Donegal.

Kieran McGeeney’s men have been the most defensively sound team in Ireland, conceding the least amount of total points across the four divisions, whilst also keeping the ball out of their net in each of their five league games to date.

At the other end, experienced players such as Stefan Campbell, Rory Grugan and Andrew Murnin have been in fine form, whilst 21-year-old prospect Oisin Conaty has performed beyond his years and been a stand-out performer.

However, whilst the table makes for good reading at the moment, if Armagh lose and Donegal avoid defeat against Kildare, the Orchard County will go into the final round of fixtures with their promotion fate out of their hands, as Cavan will jump them in the table and into the top two places on head-to-head.

The Breffni men may have only been promoted from Division 3 last year, but they took no time at all acclimatising to life in the second tier, with victories over Kildare, Cork and Louth, a draw against Meath and a narrow one-point defeat against the fancied Donegal.

Thus, Armagh need to be wary of taking their eye off the ball.

However, according to Paddy Burns – who has enjoyed a tremendous campaign at corner back this year – the team are fully aware of the task that lies ahead.

“That’s a team who we have never got it easy against,” said Burns.

“You can see the way that they’re playing – I watched them against Meath (a 0-11 apiece draw), and while they probably lacked some of the quality that some of their earlier games in the league had – you could see it was in difficult conditions.

“But nobody has beaten them easy. Donegal beat them by a point, and they’ve won their other games. They’re playing really well, they have a good forwards unit, big physical players and nothing is going to come easy in that game.”

‘We have fellas busting to get into the team’

Burns’ manager Kieran McGeeney echoed his words, also emphasising the physical talents that the Breffni men possess, when he spoke to Armagh TV.

"There’s no doubt about it, the most important thing is that we’re ready for that one,” said McGeeney regarding Cavan, following his side’s most recent win over Fermanagh.

“Cavan always give us a good game. They are very physically aggressive around the middle. They hit hard, and they hit often, so it’s going to be a battle.”

In theory Armagh had last weekend ‘off’ to prepare for this game, but for McGeeney, the time has been spent preparing diligently for the most important fixture of the season so far.

“I don’t know what a week off looks like,” he laughed.

“I’d love to know what that looks like, but we have a lot to do. We have fellas busting to get some game time, and fellas trying to push their way into the 26-man squad, as well as the starting 15.

“So, it’s busy, but it’s a good place to be in.”