Ulster Council is confident that there will be no withdrawals from next month's Dr McKenna Cup.

As ever, there are fears that some of the university sides might withdraw from the competition due to the availabilty or otherwise of players, with St Mary's manager Paddy Tally having dropped a broad hint to that effect last week, but provincial PRO John Connolly says the stage is set for a full programme of matches:

"The fact of the matter is that the university sides are an integral part of the competition and as far as we are aware they will have their county players. It is all systems go for the competition which begins on the first week-end of January," he told The Belfast Telegraph.

"Obviously with the Allianz League commencing on January 31st, this means that there is an earlier commencement than usual so there is a little bit more pressure on county bosses.

"I don't see why university players should not re-join their county teams immediately after their involvement in the McKenna Cup ends. Obviously the university teams have their sights set on the Sigerson Cup and you can understand their desire to plan ahead.

"We would hope that the McKenna will benefit both county and university managers although maybe in different ways. The important thing is that we will have competitive matches that will provide an insight to the season ahead."

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