Derry boss Ciaran Meenagh said his side "didn't attack well enough" in their 1-18 to 1-13 defeat against Armagh in the first round of the All-Ireland SFC at the Athletic Grounds.

The Oak Leafers were back in action for the first time since they let an 11-point lead slip against Monaghan in the Ulster semi-final at the same venue last month.

They were ultimately left to rue missed chances, especially in the second half when they failed to really capitalise on Jason Duffy's black card for Armagh, who ran out comfortable winners.

"It was never going to be easy to win, but to not bring the game down the stretch when they had the black card and we brought it back to three, it looked like we had the potential to do it, but we didn't attack well enough and it's devastating the number of chances we didn't take," he said.

"To have a good day at kickouts and things we did well, it's a really disappointing result.

"At half-time we were in a good enough place but didn't put enough pressure on Armagh."

Derry will now drop into Round 2B and face a tough route to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.

When asked if he believes if they can make it to the last eight Meenagh said he "would like to think they can".

"We've had some great days and some not so great in recent weeks but I believe in the quality of players there there's serious quality in the changing room and on the bench," he added.

"It's just a matter of getting one big result or scalp but we're running out of time and if we don't get it right over the next two weeks our season will be over."