McCloskey out of Derry panel

Eoin McCloskey was not at his best last year

Goalkeeper Eoin McCloskey will not be part of the Derry football squad this season.

Derry manager Eamon Coleman confirmed the news on Monday at a press conference in Belfast which was launching this year's Allianz National Leagues.

Coleman, in typical fashion, gave little away about the circumstances of McCloskey's departure from the squad.

Asked whether the Dungiven man had been dropped or had left of his own accord Coleman replied:"A bit of both".

McCloskey is the only major departure from last year's panel which via the backdoor route, reached the All-Ireland semi-finals where they were narrowly defeated by Galway.

The Dungiven goalkeeper was criticised in some quarters for at least two of the Tyrone goals in the Ulster Championship semi-final which Derry lost.

Joe Kernan (r) chats to Allianz's Adrian Toner

Some people also felt McCloskey was at fault for Matthew Clancy's late goal in the All-Ireland semi-final which dramatically turned the contest in Galway's favour.

McCloskey's departure from the squad means Loup goalkeeper Shane McGuckin or Bellaghy's Brian Scullion will line out for Derry in Sunday's National League opener in Clare.

Unlike last season when Coleman claimed he wasn't bothered about the National League, the Derry boss insisted he would be taking this year's new-look competition "very seriously".

"The new format changes things considerably," said Coleman.

"The entire League is now very much leading in towards the championship unlike previously when you almost wanted to get the autumn league games out of the way," added the Derry boss.

Tyrone joint-manager Eugene McKenna who joined Coleman and new Armagh boss Joe Kernan at the Belfast press conference agreed that the NFL would be "more competitive".

"I think the new format is good because it will mean more football and less training," said McKenna.

"Previously there was too much training going on as you started in October.

"This year we basically started training on 6 January. The increased amount of football from now on in the league has to be good for the players," he added.

Bellew inclusion

Tyrone open their NFL campaign with a home game against Roscommon on Sunday.

Joe Kernan said he was looking forward to seeing his side in competitive action for the first time.

"We've played quite a few challenge games over the past few weeks but at the end of the day they are only challenge games," said the Armagh boss.

Kernan has not tinkered greatly with the squad he inherited from previous joint-managers Brian McAlinden and Brian Canavan.

An interesting inclusion is centre half-back Francie Bellew who starred for the Crossmaglen team which Kernan guided to three All-Ireland Club titles.

Kernan is also considering deploying skipper Kieran McGeeney at midfield.