BY RYAN FERRY
MONAGHAN may be at a low ebb but Donegal boss Jim McGuinness is still anticipating ‘a very tough game’ on Sunday in Clones.
Donegal had two hugely challenging games against the Farney county in last year’s championship.
They came through both battles but with plenty of questions asked.
Monaghan have been operating with a depleted squad since and it has shown.
Donegal defeated them in the McKenna Cup Final by 2-17 to 0-11.
That indicated that Gabriel Bannigan’s side were going to struggle in the league and so it has proven.
They have lost all six of their matches so far and are relegated heading into the final round of fixtures.
Donegal could have had a league final secured at this stage but lost out to Roscommon.
That could lead to an eventful final day of action on Sunday.
“It will be a very tough game,” said McGuinness.
“If we had got over the line (against Roscommon), it would be a different situation for us.
“But we didn’t and now it’s going to be bumpy all the way I’d imagine.”
Donegal were unbeaten in eight games before they lost out against the Rossies.
It was a challenging day for both teams as the inclement weather was not conducive to free-flowing football.
“It was tough on the supporters not to mind the players.
“The hailstones were battering off everybody at one stage.
“When it ends up like that there is an element of chance to it but I’m taking nothing away from Roscommon.
“They deserved their victory and it’s back to the drawing board for us.
“We have another game left in the league. It’s been a very good campaign for us up until this point so I don’t want to get caught up in too many negatives.”
McGuinness was asked what learnings his team could take from the defeat in Dr Hyde Park and his response was as follows:
“Control of the game.
“We did very well against Mayo in Letterkenny when we were up against a very strong breeze.
“We controlled the game and attacked really well.
“Our build-up was actually good in the first half (against Roscommon) but when we got to the easier part which is the established part, we forced a lot of those attacks.
“If you’re doing right, you don’t have to do that. You trust yourself and trust the process and keep the scoreboard ticking over.
“They were very, very tired at the end and the reason they were so tired was because there was so many times where they were working hard to win the ball and then get up the field.
“Then you have maybe one or two minutes when you’re trying to get the ball over the bar and then you’re coughing it up and have to go all the way back and defend.
“That becomes an impossible task at some point.
“The goal came when Conor (O’Donnell) dropped the ball short and that was a prime example of that.
“We were struggling to get back in because of that so that’s a huge learning in terms of managing the game, controlling the game and taking care of the ball.
“We’re normally good in that moment but there were just times when we weren’t at the level.”
McGuinness also discussed the difficulties his team have encountered over the last couple of weeks as pitch number five in Convoy has struggled to deal with the rain fall.
“We hardly trained either and that’s being honest with you.
“The Centre of Excellence has been closed to most teams over the last two weeks.
“We weren’t able to train on Thursday night. We did a bit of ball handling in a corner because we didn’t want to cut up the pitch.
“The weather has been really poor and there has been a lot of rain which has meant getting out on the pitch and doing what you normally do a bit more challenging.
“But we don’t take anything away from Roscommon. That was a spirited performance and they deserved the two points.”
Donegal, Kerry, Mayo, and Roscommon are all still in contention to make the league final.
A defeat in Clones could still take Donegal through if Kerry lose to Armagh and the Mayo v Roscommon match doesn’t end in a draw.
A draw might suffice but not if Kerry and the Rossies both win.
A Donegal victory would remove any doubt and McGuinness’s charges will be strong favourites to get the result.
“I think there are a good few permutations,” said McGuinness at Dr Hyde Park.
“It depends on what happens with Armagh and Kerry, I think that’s a big one.
“If Roscommon win the next day they have a good chance of being in the league final so there’s a lot a permutations.
“We are not bothered either way if we win the game and we get there then we get there.
“If we don’t, then we will have an extra week to prepare for Down and we will have five weeks to prepare for that match.
“We are getting a lot out of it up until this point and we just want to keep that going.”