The need for finals to be played at a neutral venue ensured that there was never an option to stage the two Derry games as a double-header at Celtic Park but O’Doherty does not feel finals should be moved regardless.
“It’s a chance to play in Croke Park,” he added.
“Any chance you get to play in Croke Park you want to grab it with both hands.
“We were here last year, beaten by Meath in the final. This was always our goal, to get back here and go one step better. It’s a massive opportunity for us.”
As well as the experience of final defeat 12 months ago, O’Doherty wants his side to take lessons from a seven-point defeat to Sunday’s opposition last month.
“Learn from it, learn from what we did wrong,” said O’Doherty, who estimates he has lost eight of his 10 previous Croke Park appearances for school, club and county in football and hurling.
“We done some good things in that game, we take them into it and [want to] correct the errors that we made.
“We’ve had enough battles with them over the last four or five years in different competitions. We know what they’re about, they know what we’re about.
“If we bring our ‘A’ game, I think that’ll be enough.”
