Monaghan manager Malachy O'Rourke reckons referee Maurice Deegan was unduly influenced by Donegal players during the Ulster SFC final.

Recalling their 1-9 to 0-15 defeat in Clones last Sunday week, the Fermanagh native highlighted the issue in an interview with The Irish News: "We felt a lot of the wee marginal call went against us. Donegal were intent on letting the referee know every time they felt there was a foul.

"It struck us that they were letting the referee know when they felt it was a foul and they did it all through the game. We felt the referee gave them frees that we weren't getting.

"Overall, we didn't play well and we were disappointed with out performance, yet at the end of the day there were only three points in the game.

"But we were beaten by the better team on the day and no way are we making excuses."

O'Rourke expects star forward duo Kieran Hughes and Conor McManus to be fully fit for Saturday's All-Ireland SF qualifier date with Kildare.

Hughes has been struggling with a knee injury while McManus was struck down by illness in the days leading up to the Ulster SFC final defeat.

"Kieran has recovered a wee bit. I suppose he carried an injury into the Ulster final and he wasn't completely himself. But he has been able to train a wee bit more since that match. Hopefully he will be a bit further down the road of recovery.

"Conor McManus was sick three or four days leading up to the Ulster final so he wasn't firing on all cylinders either."

Dermot Malone (broken thumb) and Owen Lennon (ankle) are Monaghan's two main injury concerns ahead of the Lilywhite clash. Tweet

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