Fermanagh hurling Manager Joe Baldwin has confirmed the addition of former Fermanagh footballer Ryan Jones as Strength and Conditioning coach for this season.

Jones stepped away from Ryan McMenamin’s football squad at the end of last season, and Baldwin has moved to add the Derrygonnelly club man – who has also linked up with the U-20 footballers in a similar capacity – to his management team.

“Ryan has come in as Strength and Conditioning coach, and he is a really good addition to the set-up and something that we badly needed.

“It is something that we have been lacking, and the body shape of some of the boys would tell you that, and that’s not being derogatory, they would know that themselves.

“Nowadays, Strength and Conditioning is there for as much injury prevention as any thing else; you need it to build that muscle mass and that core strength that is needed to play inter-county hurling.

“Ryan is giving the boys programmes to do; they are separated into their different groups to do their online sessions with him,” said Baldwin.

With the GAA having not yet given the greenlight for county squads to return to collective training, players are working away at their own programmes, and Baldwin says that they are looking forward to the day that they can get back out on the pitch.

“Rory O’Donnell is keeping the boys very busy with their Strava runs, and we are just trying to do what we can do.

‘We have to bide our time’

“February 15 is when they are going to review it again, but at the minute we just have to bide our time, keep our heads down and work away, and when the time is right we will get back at it.

“We look forward to getting back out on the pitch as soon as it is possible, even for the boys’ own mental health and well-being, being cooped up in the house and trying to do your training on your own is very difficult to do, and it’s hard to motivate yourself,” he acknowledged.

In terms of the squad, Baldwin revealed that there have been no retirements, while there have been a few additions to the panel for the forthcoming campaign.

“We have added Kevin McGarry from Portaferry back into the squad, and we are still working on getting Barney McAuley in.

“There are a few other things that we are working on as well, while there are a couple of young lads who have come on board, like Darragh McPhilips.

“We’ve also had no retirements, which is pleasing. We opened it up to the group that they could contact me in private if that’s what they were thinking, but nobody did.

“We are probably in a position this year where we will be able to select a panel instead of carry everybody,” said Baldwin.

With the league having been put back from the provisional start date, Baldwin is also hopeful of clearing up the couple of injuries within the squad.

“We had that bad injury to Sean Corrigan at Croke Park, and he and Dylan Bannon are in rehab at the minute, so that wee bit of extra time is obviously helping them. As i said, we are looking forward to getting back out on the field and for the league to start."