By Shaun Casey

FORMER Monaghan forward Ciaran Hanratty believes the better surface at Croke Park will suit Monaghan’s front-foot style of play as they take on Dublin at HQ in round three of the National League on Saturday evening.

Both sides have made poor starts to the campaign and are joint bottom of the Division One table with zero points to show from their efforts so far. The loser of Saturday’s encounter will be staring relegation in the face.

The heavier ground against both Armagh and Roscommon in the opening two rounds wasn’t ideal for the Farney County, according to Hanratty, and Croke Park will allow them to explore their more expansive game-plan.

“It’s a great place to be going for a game and there’s always a buzz for Monaghan people going there,” said Hanratty, who currently resides in the capital. “Monaghan, under Gabriel (Bannigan) especially last year under the new rules played a really positive brand of football.

“They played on the front foot, kicking a lot of ball, racking up a lot of scores. The first two rounds of the league haven’t shown that, but Croke Park is a better pitch and less heavy than some of the other pitches.

“Those other two matches were played at the end of January with heavier pitches so I’d be hopeful that the quicker pitch will suit the Monaghan team and suit how they want to play football so I’m looking forward to it.”

While it hasn’t been an ideal start to 2026, Hanratty isn’t too downbeat by Monaghan’s form and points to the personnel they still have in reserve, most notably the Scotstown contingent.

“They want to be playing Division One football, but the reality is that Monaghan are down a few bodies. They had a decent run in the McKenna Cup, but they picked up a few niggles.

“There’s a significant cohort of Scotstown players who have not been involved with the team. Ryan O’Toole was back quite early, and Rory (Beggan) played against Roscommon as well, but they’re coming in having had a massive club season so it’s a big ask.

“They’re missing Conor McCarthy, Killian Lavelle as well so there’s a reality that Monaghan just have to deal with the cards they’ve been dealt which has been difficult but hopefully those boys are starting to come back to leave them in a better space.

“There’s no doubt this weekend is going to be a challenge but to the same extent, Dublin have had a tough start as well. The loser is going to be in a tricky spot and that’s what makes it such a big game for both teams.”