By Shaun Casey

DESPITE sitting at the bottom of the Division One table, staring relegation in the face, Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan insists his side will come out swinging against Mayo this weekend.

The Farney men have four games left to salvage their place in the top tier, having gained promotion from Division Two last season, starting with Mayo’s visit to Clones on Sunday.

Bannigan will come up against a familiar face on the sideline, with former Monaghan coach Andy Moran now over his native county, who suffered their first defeat of the league against Donegal last weekend.

“Every game in Division One is a huge challenge but we have four games left and we have eight points to go for,” Bannigan said. “I know everybody is going to write us off, but we’ll fight for every single one of those points and see where that takes us.

“We’re going to keep putting the work in as a group, keep working hard to improve and build on the positives that we had in last week’s performance and build on that for the next game, and we’ll keep doing that game by game.

“It’s not the be all and the end all the league. The league is at the end of the day, and I said this last year in Division Two, it is about preparation for the championship.

“Of course, we fought hard to win Division Two last year and go up to Division One and that’s where we want to be, I don’t want to go back down but we have to deal with the challenges that we’re facing, keep positive and keep fighting.”

Monaghan have been operating without a whole host of regulars and lost another key man last Saturday evening in their defeat to Dublin, with Ryan McAnespie limping off during the opening period with another hamstring injury.

“It is very frustrating, but we have a squad of players,” Bannigan, now in his second season in charge, continued. “I brought 16 new players into the panel this year and it looks like we’re going to use them all.

“The reality is that any team in the country would find that difficult. You want to be blooding these players one or two at a time with loads of experience around them but we’re having to go deep at the moment but they’re good lads and they’re making progress.”