"It's something we have looked at since we took over underage teams in Antrim and there are a lot of those players coming through now," he said.

"We have been talking about this when we are playing in minor competitions in Ulster. The first game we have after the Ulster Championship is against Galway and you are stepping up from Level 1 to Level 5 and that's where the problem lies."

The former Antrim player also believes that competitions like the Walsh Cup can only improve his team's progress, and he is happy to have got one over on Kilkenny.

"Last year was our first year in the Walsh Cup and we played Wexford away and this is our second year. It's a competition that we wanted to enter for a long time and it was hard to convince people.

"There is a lot of expense involved with it as well, we stayed overnight and I have to thank our County Board who took the players to Kilkenny on Saturday night. They are very supportive of us in everything we do and I think they realise what we are about and are trying to achieve."

McKinley is also calling for the National Hurling League to be re-examined and is openly critical of the Hurling Development Committee (HDC) and their development proposals.

"I personally believe and I have said all along that there are three different tiers in hurling and to me you don't need to go to Division 2, you go with Divisions 1A and 1B. People need to make tough calls and that's where the problem lies," he insisted.

"If people think Offaly, Dublin, Wexford and Antrim should go into 1B they should do that. It comes to a stage where they don't make those tough calls and they are always going for the easy options and that has been going on for years now.

"They have to stand up and say 'we are going to create a six or eight-team top tier and then have a second tier. Once you achieve your goal in the second tier then you get into Division 1'."

McKinley believes that the Antrim hurlers have also been tossed around when it comes to home and away venues for National league games. The Ulster side are away for three games this spring including glamour ties against Waterford and Kilkenny.

This is something which needs to be examined according to the Antrim joint manager.

"Division 1 hurling is very important for us and we have great emphasis on it, to stay in that division," he said.

"Basically it is to prove people wrong. You can do some things there but the championship, the way it's laid out is doing nothing for Antrim hurling.

"It's the same in Division 1 when they gave us three games away and we talked about this. I'm not going to complain any more about it now, but we are going to try and do something about it."