CORK Senior Football manager Conor Counihan says a mid-table position is a realistic aspiration for his side as they begin their Allianz National football league Division 1 campaign this weekend. "Oh I'd love to challenge, but I would be realistic enough to say that with a few injuries and starting a bit behind that if we can get a mid-table position by the end of the league I would be happy enough with that," he said at the launch of the 2010 Allianz leagues in Dublin on Monday.

The Rebels will taste their first competitive action of 2010 this Sunday when they travel to take on Monaghan in Scotstown – a repeat of last year's Division 2 final pairing which Cork won. Counihan believes that coming from a standing start his side will be severally disadvantaged.

"Well I suppose one of the disadvantages was that we didn't get anything out of the January competitions because we weren't involved in the McGrath Cup," he said. "Our lads were away on holidays so we are probably starting a bit behind the pace from that point of view.

"We had a number of players involved with the colleges alright in the McGrath Cup, so we have a bit of ground to make up and Scotstown isn't a nice place to be starting out trying to make up ground like that. It's probably just one game at time for us. We are under no illusions that it is going to be a tough battle up in Scotstown.

He added: "We went up there last year and we got hockeyed there, so we know what to expect anyway I suppose."

And Counihan says that the step up to Division 1 is going to pose a major challenge for his players. "It's a big challenge, but it is where we need to be in terms of finding out more about ourselves. We went through Division 2 last year reasonably comfortably and at the end of the day you weren't a whole pile better off in finding out where your real strengths and weaknesses are. I think there are a lot of positives for being in Division 1," he added.

But with four guys on the injury list it's going to be a tough task for the Rebels to come away with victory this weekend. " We have four guys nursing injuries at the moment. John Miskella, Graham Canty, Alan Quirke and Anthony Lynch are all out for us, but that's going to give opportunities to other people," Counihan said.

"It's probably happening a bit by default for us at the moment in that the more experienced guys seem to be injured at the minute so it's going to happen by default anyway. I suppose there is no doubt that you have to balance it in terms of mileage clocked up and that sort of thing and give fellas a reasonable chance." But Counihan isn't introducing any new faces to the Cork squad just yet. "We have nothing at the minute, but that doesn't mean that we won't introduce one or two (new players)."

With no competitive action, the new experimental rules will be somewhat alien to Cork this weekend, but Counihan still has a strong opinion on the new changes. "I would have said before that I felt that we probably could have done with more of a consensus on it, in the sense of getting all of the managers together and maybe a player from each county and a number of referees.

"Lets get clarity in terms of what we want to achieve, because we have got to stop chopping and changing every year. What rules are there, are there now and lets see what way they work out."

Looking at the bigger picture Counihan is keen for his side to get as many wins under their belt as possible – be it league or Championship. "I'd have the attitude that you go out and try and win every competition you can. From the league point of view we are starting a bit behind there, but it's one game at a time whether it is Championship or league and you are only as good as your last game," he noted.

However, the Cork boss concedes that it is hard to find a balance between league and championship. "It's difficult and we do the best we can, but there is a bit of science involved with it. I haven't fully developed it yet and if somebody has I'd like to hear it! You need to try and rest players to a certain extent at particular times."

Counihan says that the league is also important to use as a breeding ground for future talent. "Particularly if you bring in new players you need to see how they adapt and it's a step-up level from where they have been at before.

"When you go to places like Scotstown it can be tough and intimidating and you have to survive places like that. If you do you can be pretty sure that you have a player that is going to go forward."

- Coilín Duffy