Monaghan manager Malachy O'Rourke is hopeful that his side's seasoned campaigner will give it another season.

The Derrylin native, who confirmed earlier this month that he would remain in charge of the Farney men for a fifth season, is quoted as saying in today's Irish News that he would like to keep his veteran quartet - Paul Finlay, Dick Clerkin, Vinny Corey and Dessie Mone - involved in 2017.

"We have had no discussion with those guys yet, with everything being up in the air," said O'Rourke.

"The older lads haven given tremendous commitment over a number of years and have been stalwarts for Monaghan football. They still have a lot to offer.

"I suppose they will have to weigh up that we went out of the championship early and they didn't get the game time they hoped for and that we might have been planning for them if the year had gone on a bit longer.

"Most of those boys have family commitments and it's not just as easy to give commitment to the football, especially if you're not a regular starter. But when you're in good enough shape to perform at that level, we would love if they were all still there for us as much as we they can.

"We'll just give them the time to have a look at their own circumstances and what they can give again. We'll give them time for reflection and to get their freshness back and then we'll look at things later on in the year."

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