Former soccer star Alan Davidson has registered 1-13 in two McKenna Cup appearances for Down so far this year.

The former Ballymena, Glenavon and Newry City player switched codes from soccer to gaelic football two years ago and clipped over nine points as the Mourne County pipped Derry at Pairc Esler on Sunday.

"I am still learning, I think that was my 46th competitive match," the Bredagh clubman states in The Irish Examiner. "Essentially, the professionalism is probably something similar, though there is probably more professionalism in the GAA to be brutally honest. The challenge of being out in front of the crowds, I am sort of used to that. I can go out and be confident, play my own game and it doesn't unsettle me.

"It's a different type of fitness. In soccer, you are constantly turning so it is a lot more agile. But gaelic players are a lot stronger.

"Coming into the game, I did a tiny bit of weights to build my upper body. My running has always been good, so the transition has been smooth enough for me."

The Mourne County travel to Armagh for their third-round McKenna Cup fixture tomorrow night.

Join us for our Live Match Tracker on Wednesday night when we will be providing full fext commentary on all the midweek McKenna Cup, Munster SHL Walsh Cup action as it happens.

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