Down coach Mickey Donnelly feels his side “probably still need a point” after their 1-18 to 1-15 victory over Fermanagh left his side all but promoted.
The Mourne County have won five from five in Division Three and look sure to make an immediate return to Division Two.
“Probably, well, you look at the games that are remaining, we probably still need a point,” Donnelly told BBC Sport NI.
“If you lose both your games, your score difference is going to be affected anyway, so it would have been nice to have had a more comfortable victory, but it is what it is.
“We’re sitting after five games with 10 points, we couldn’t say that we wanted any more from those games, yet maybe the performance weren’t 10 out of 10, but it’s nice to be sitting at the top of the pack.”
Securing promotion comes with the added incentive of trying to secure Sam Maguire football for later in the summer.
The promoted teams from the third tier are likely to play in the All-Ireland series, barring Clare shocking All-Ireland champions Kerry in the Munster semi-final.
After getting a taste of All-Ireland series football last summer, Down will be keen to get back to testing themselves against the best in the country.
“They’re all massive games, playing those sorts of oppositions, it excites everyone. Not only us, but it excites the fans, it excites the parents of the lads who are involved and that’s what creates a wave of emotion,” he continued.
“You’ve got to walk before you can run, and ultimately, once hopefully we get out of Division Three that’ll be a box ticked, then we’ve got to tick the box to get into the All-Ireland series, and that’s where we want to be.
“We just feel we’re in a much better place, whether or not that stands the test of time, or stands the test of scrutiny.”
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