Ex-Kildare corner forward Johnny Doyle believes missing out on promotion to Division 1 is not a disaster for his county.
The Lilywhites have made a horrendous start to Division 2, losing their first three games to Down, Meath and Westmeath, having been relegated from Division 1 in 2014.
With four more games to go, Kildare will be scrambling to avoid demotion to the third tier. While that can still be avoided, Doyle told Off The Ball that another year in Division 2 can be acceptable for Jason Ryan's team.
"I'm hoping that they will turn it and it will be character building stuff. At this moment, we can forget about Division 1 but that to me would not be the end of the world. If they can hold Division 2 status for another year and get out of this, it will build character," said Doyle.
But he does see issues, from the Westmeath loss in particular, that need to be ironed out in the remaining league fixtures.
"The amount of basic mistakes the Kildare lads made with ball handling and running into cul-de-sacs, just basic little mistakes and Westmeath punished them every time. It's a confidence thing now because the pressure is on and Kildare's a football mad county," said Doyle.
