Former Antrim hurling star Gary O'Kane says the opportunity to join his county's interim management team was too good to turn down.

Following the shock departure of Saffrons boss PJ O'Mullan earlier this month, O'Kane accepted the invitation from Dominic McKinley to join him, Terence McNaughton and Neal Peden to help out his native county and O'Kane believes the talent in the current squad is as strong as ever.

"Skill-wise, Antrim hurling is unbelievable; it's only a matter of getting people tuned in and getting everyone on the same page," O'Kane told The Irish News.

"We've this thing in Antrim where not everybody wants to play for the county. When we played, you got the call-up to the county, you were away. Maybe the way things are going over the last few years, there is more interest playing for your club and getting a county title with your club and going for All-Ireland Club titles.

"When I came onto the county team, I was playing with legends of Antrim hurling - the McNaughtons, the Ciaran Barrs, the 'Hippy' Donnellys - and you trained the way they did. I suppose it comes down to the players themselves and their own attitude."

He added: "Antrim got relegated by Kerry last year. This year, maybe half our problem was everybody was talking about promotion and winning Christy Ring. It seemed only a matter of turning up. That was from the outside looking in. But other counties are training as hard as Antrim are. For some teams, when the ball starts to go downhill, it's hard to stop it."

Antrim take on Roscommon this Saturday in the second round of the Christy Ring, after overcoming Kildare by 3-20 to 0-17 in their opener at Parnell Park.

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