The same ability to weigh up and analyse the opposition has also been one of his main strengths throughout his football life. The 26-yearold Ballinderry corner-back has always preferred to deal in the hard currency of competitive reality.

It helped McGuckin face up to the prospect of having to work through the pain and disappointment of suffering a broken tibia against Louth in the final match of Derry's National League series.

Most players would have been resigned to a season of rehabilitation. The general consensus amongst the medics was that the complexity of the diagonal break at the base of his shin would keep the leadership qualities of the Derry man mothballed for the rest of the season.

McGuckin had a different assessment, one that matched his agenda.

Determination has always been key. It was bad enough having to hobble on crutches through his wedding to Deirdre Neeson and put his honeymoon on hold.

The prospect however of being up to a year-long member of the Derry sideline injury committee was something that he wasn't prepared to contemplate.

Coming on as a substitute against Laois after 47 minutes following an injury to Michael McGolderick last Saturday didn't allow him much time to ponder on the additional psychological pressures. One moment he was on the side discussing tactics with manager Paddy Crozier, seconds later he was being asked if he was fit enough to play a role in the Derry defence.

In between he had only had a couple of matches. But his absence of nearly four months from top class competitive football didn't show any defects in either his mental of physical focus.

"It was a great feeling to get back into county football.

To play a part of a team that delivered the kind of performance that we did against Laois was even better.

"They are a good side. They hit us with goals that could have proved crucial. But we just rolled forward and took everything in our stride."

The input provided by former All Star Enda Muldoon was vital, he says.

"The performance of Enda that evening was awesome. The decision to move him into midfield was a masterstroke by the management. Against Monaghan, like the rest of the team, nothing went right for Enda. I think he was able to touch the ball just a couple of times.

"Before going into the Armagh match there had been a lot of very honest, tough talking. We had been severely criticised for the way we went out of the Ulster championship. It was all deserved. We had to change a lot of things. We had to show that all around the pitch there were players that would take responsibility, show leadership. Enda has never lacked any of those qualities. Placing him in midfield has now given Derry a completely new dimension.

The way that he links up with Paddy Bradley in a creative sense has given the entire squad a huge lift."

In their qualifiers against Armagh, Mayo and Laois, Derry continued the development of their brand of football, one played with fluency and flair and self-belief.

"It's hard to put a really definitive angle on why we have flourished in the qualifiers. But if I were pressed I would suggest that getting out of the Ulster Championship, even if the circumstances were totally unacceptable, has had a liberating effect on us as a group of players.

"We had reached rock bottom. We were terrible. We knew that we could however not get any worse after the defeat handed down by Monaghan. The fact that we grabbed a late goal, and could have possibly snatched a win would have been a travesty. It would also have masked the need for a tough self-examination process that we needed as a group of players to go through.

"Some teams can't adapt to the different pressures that come with the qualifier system. But whether or not it's the sudden death, last chance element of the games, the fact is that Derry has been able to negotiate a challenge that is completely different from the Ulster championship."

Against Dublin in a soldout Croke Park, the survival challenge will step up to another level.

But McGuckin does not buy into the anti-Dublin hysteria that manifests itself the longer the Boys in Blue continue their campaign for the Sam Maguire.

For him it is going to "be a huge privilege" to play whatever part Derry require of him on the biggest stage in Gaelic football. The last time he played at Croke Park was back in 2004 when Kerry provided the opposition at All Ireland semi-final level.

The disappointment of losing that afternoon is something that he is determined not to have to endure a second time.

"That was in front of 50,000. On Sunday next it will be a sell-out 82,000 plus.

The Dubs are a special side, especially when they have their fans in full voice behind them.

"But they are much more than a team propelled by a supporters' bandwagon.

They have great physical strength, they pass the ball superbly and above everything they are a group of players that will compete from start to finish. It is just the sort of environment and calibre of opposition that every Derry player will relish raising their game to match."

McGuckin knows that given the squad's catalogue of problems on and off the pitch this season, very few would have given any credence to the side's Croke Park ambitions just a few months ago.

Paddy Bradley was regarded as football's equivalent of the one trick pony in a team of football Clydesdales. A team that overall was muscular and direct but having little else was the general assessment.

But the implementation of received wisdom has never been close to the reality that is Derry football. This season's campaign has again ensured that when it comes to turning theory on its head they continue to confound textbook analysis.

But when it comes to resilience, Derry football has proved it has the ability to keep coming back. Like