GAA: MICKEY DERRS TO DREAM; Moran has Laois firmly in his sights.

Byline: Jackie CAHILL

DERRY boss Mickey Moran believes that his side has made significant progress over the last 12 months.

Moran says that if he was without the likes of Fergal Doherty and Enda Muldoon for last year's qualifier against Limerick, the Oak Leafers might not have come through against the Munster outfit.

But this year, the two sides met again and Moran had to line out without those two top stars.

Undeterred, Derry came through against Limerick to set up this afternoon's All-Ireland fourth round qualifier against Laois at Croke Park.And Moran has decided to gamble on the fitness of Muldoon and Doherty as the stakes get higher and higher in the Bank of Ireland football Championship.

"Croke Park is the place to be with the wide open spaces and I'm expecting a very good game," Moran said.

"We reached an All-Ireland semi-final last year and of course we're hopeful of going that one step further," he added.

"We'll just take each match as it comes. Even though it appears that this team has been on the go for three years now, it's actually only two," Moran insisted.

"In my first year in charge, I had an open mind and gave everybody a chance. But after that it was obvious that major surgery and rebuilding was needed and now we're getting there.

"It's a young team and Sean Marty Lockhart is the oldest player at 27, going on 28. Some of the lads starting on Saturday will have had very little experience of Croke Park whereas Laois have played there three times already this year.

"But this game will tell us where we're at and on our day and if everything goes well, we can give anybody a game.

"We have quality, it's just a matter of getting the whole thing cohesive.

"We faced a strong challenge against Limerick the last day and we went into that game minus Fergal Doherty and Enda Muldoon. But now we have options all over the park if lads aren't available and we're progressing nicely."

Quoted at 25/1 in some places for the All-Ireland, Derry are a decent outside bet for Sam Maguire.

In 2004, Derry overcame a demoralising Ulster Championship defeat against Tyrone to come roaring through the back door all the way to the last four.

Derry had to take the scenic route again this year after losing the Ulster semi-final to Armagh but victories against Down and Limerick have softened the blow considerably.

Now, Moran is expecting another mighty battle against a Laois team still smarting from that Leinster final defeat against Dublin, a game in which they feel they let themselves down badly.

"Despite losing to Dublin, Laois realised that they are a good team, that they can still have a big say in the Championship," Moran said.

"After Tyrone beat us comprehensively last year, we could have gone away, buried our heads in the sands and hid but we didn't.

"Against Armagh this year, we put it up to them in terms of possession and football ability and we were unlucky, we kicked too many wides.

"It was a tough defeat but we got back to training the following Tuesday, John Morrison had good sessions planned and we tore away.

"We got a tremendous result against Down who were on a high after reaching the All-Ireland under-21 final and that was a real tight game, it helped us."

Derry had four points to spare against Limerick but they'll have to up their performance levels considerably to compete with Laois.

"I watched the Leinster final and they were very unlucky," Moran conceded.

"But you have to give credit to Dublin for their first half display and they way they hung in there.

"Against Kildare in the semi-final, Laois were very impressive and their never-say-die attitude was to the fore against Offaly.

"Laois have character, resilience, effort and they're an all- action team.

"Their running game is very hard to combat and if we're not matching that, we'll be in trouble," Moran warned.

Leading the charge for Derry will be the irrepressible Paddy Bradley, the talismanic forward and captain who is arguably in the form of his life.

"The facts speak for themselves he has been really tremendous," Moran said.

"But he's the first to put his hand up and say 'I'm getting good service here' and that's credit to the boys working the ball in.

"The fellas partnering Paddy in attack are working hard to create space but he has been in absolutely tremendous form.

"He was disappointed not to get an All-Star last year but he didn't bitch about. He has decided to let his football do the talking."

CAPTION(S):

HOPES: Derry's Mickey Moran; TALISMAN: Derry need Paddy Bradley to be on his best form