Of all the teams who could have met in the qualifiers, these two will be least enthused by the prospect. There's been nearly as much drama since Mark O'Donnell's last-gasp winning goal four weeks ago as there was during the two Ulster matches.

If Fermanagh have to cope with the psychological fallout from losing to Monaghan, Donegal's mood won't have been helped by the eventual suspension of Jimmy McGuinness for dismissal in a club match.

Mickey Moran is forced into more extensive changes than Fermanagh, despite the success in keeping John Gildea on this side of the Atlantic for a little while longer. Last month's matches featured a number of talking points, principal of which was how quickly the sides cottoned onto each other.

Fermanagh have the advantage of a further match since then and if the result was disastrous it seems to have convinced John Maughan that Mark O'Donnell should start in attack. The taming of Stephen Maguire was the big bulletin from the replay, as well as Donegal's failure to make overall superiority pay.

A great deal may depend on how the match starts. Fermanagh were caught napping last week and effectively lost out in the first quarter. A similar start for Donegal will build their confidence and depress Fermanagh. Who's learned most about their shortcomings? The guess here is that Fermanagh have, courtesy of Monaghan last week, and can repeat the dose.