Colm McFadden was relieved to get over Derry in yesterday's Ulster SFC semi-final.

The veteran forward marked his return to the Donegal team with a man of the match performance as the Tir Chonaill men qualified for their fifth consecutive provincial decider and third-in-a-row against Monaghan.

"It was a tough, tough battle," he told Sky Sports.

"Coming into the game we were probably hyped up after the Armagh game and we knew Derry had probably held back a bit in the league this year and that it would be all guns blazing for the championship.

"We got off to a good start and Derry came back at us coming up to half-time. Very similar to last year's performance, we probably pushed on in the first 10 minutes of the second half and we got a couple of scores and got the goal.

"Thankfully we were able to hold on… a tough battle now."

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