Malachy O'Rourke wants Monaghan to up their intensity levels against Sligo at Clones on Sunday.

After hammering Meath in their Allianz League opener, the Farneymen were brought crashing back down to earth with a bang when they lost to neighbours Cavan last time out.

"We had a super first day against Meath, but against Cavan we just didn't get the same intensity as we did in the first game," the Monaghan manager told Gaelic Life.

"To be fair, Cavan were very deserving winners, but we're hoping the break there will help us get ready for the challenge again.

"What is obvious in this division is that every single match is going to be a battle. We had it easy enough against Meath and you're thinking that maybe this is going to go to plan, but Cavan brought us back down to earth. You have to earn every victory in this division."

He added: "It's a tight division. We've learned the ups and downs of it already with the Meath and Cavan matches. We'll look for more intensity, it was missing against Cavan as I say, so hopefully we'll sort that out."