Sunday, March 6

Allianz Football League Division I**

Monaghan v Mayo, Clones, 2.30pm

When these two sides met in Division I last season, Mayo were quite ruthless in dispatching the then newly promoted Farney boys. Goals from Aidan O'Shea, Alan Freeman and Mickey Sweeney fired a hardened Mayo to a 3-15 to 0-11 win over a Monaghan side that clearly had lots to learn.

Twelve months on and things have changed considerably. Monaghan went on to finish third in Division I, win the Ulster title, and they have made a fine start to the top tier this season, winning two of their opening three games and battling superbly in a narrow defeat to Dublin at Croke Park last Saturday.

Mayo, on the other hand, are struggling a little. Stephen Rochford took over from ousted duo Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes in the off-season, but so far, things have not gone especially well. Mayo lost heavily to Cork in Round 1, and have been on the wrong side of two-point losses to Dublin and Donegal in the last two rounds.

There is a considerable caveat in that it's still early March, and Mayo have been without a clutch of regulars so far this season. They have been without their Castlebar Mitchels players - Tom Cunniffe, Patrick Durcan and Barry Moran, to name three - while they have been badly hit with injuries to key players such as Cillian O'Connor, Lee Keegan, Keith Higgins, Seamus O'Shea, Andy Moran, Donal Vaughan and Chris Barrett.

Vaughan, Keegan, O'Shea and Moran returned to action last weekend but the news is not so good on key defender Higgins, the Ballyhaunis man ruled out for the next few weeks at least due to a hamstring injury.

Mayo performed well at stages against Donegal, but very much looked like a side still feeling their way into 2016. Considering how many players they have been without, there really isn't much cause for alarm. However, a defeat this weekend would leave them in serious danger of the drop, which wouldn't be the ideal preparation ahead of a championship campaign in which an All-Ireland title is all that will satisfy.

For Monaghan, the journey to elite level respectability continues unhindered. Malachy O'Rourke's side now look very comfortable at this level, and while they were obviously disappointed to come up short against Dublin last weekend, they had much to be happy with in the performance.

The big talking point from Croke Park was the sensational display of Conor McManus, who kicked 0-12 in a performance which saw him land the GAA.ie Player of the Week award. McManus is arguably the top forward in Ireland on current form, and the Clontibret man is a huge attacking weapon for Monaghan as they bid to negotiate another successful route to the Division I semi-finals.

"I wouldn't swap him for anyone," said O'Rourke after McManus' star showing in Dublin "Conor obviously gets special attention in there, but he was on fire and he got 12 points. It's great to have him there. Hopefully we can keep him injury-free."

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