Former Down star Benny Coulter believes that Monaghan are shorn of attacking options

MONAGHAN may be once bitten, twice shy heading into Saturday’s Round 4B Qualifier against Down at Croke Park – but Mourne county legend Benny Coulter believes that Eamonn Burns’s side can upset the odds once again.

The Oriel county were heavy favourites when the teams clashed in the Ulster semi-final last month but lost out by two points. Malachy O’Rourke’s men are again heavily favoured to advance to the All-Ireland quarter-final, but the Mayobridge man is confident of another shock.

Coulter’s basis for expecting another Down win comes down to one main thing – he doesn’t think that Monaghan will have the firepower to reach the last eight.

“Monaghan have only one marquee forward in (Conor) McManus and I think Gerard McGovern can do a job on him and Darren O’Hagan can do a job on anyone else. That leaves very little scores coming from elsewhere for Monaghan.

“I think Down have the players to beat Monaghan, although I realise that it will probably be a bit tougher having already beaten them in the championship.

“I just can’t see where all of these Monaghan scores are going to come from to be honest.”

The full inteview with Benny Coulter is available in store today or online here.