Mikey Sheehy admits that it was a tough winter down in Kerry.

Kingdom players, management and supporters had plenty to ponder during the close season following the Munster champions' tame All-Ireland exit at the hands of Mayo in a replayed semi-final last August and selector Sheehy is looking forward to putting that behind him:

"Even talking about last year, we had a great win against Dublin in the Allianz League Final," he told gaa.ie at today's national football league launch.

"We were looking forward to the championship, which we started very well in Munster, but then we dipped a little bit against Galway in the quarter-final. I suppose the replay was very disappointing, hugely disappointing.

"I suppose we got a lot of criticism as a management, probably more than the players, but we deserved it because we didn't perform on the field and we didn't perform off the field and that's how you are judged in Kerry, in All-Irelands.

"The winter was tough below. There was a lot of snipers around so we were ducking and diving. But that's the beauty of sport. We're looking forward to starting next Sunday week and you are on the horse again and you just get on with it."

Tweet

Most Read Stories