Monaghan boss Trevor Hilliard immediately acknowledged in the aftermath of last Sunday's defeat by Tyrone that the game against Warwickshire was a must win game.

"There is absolutely no doubt about that and it couldn't be more straight forward because defeat on Saturday would be the end of the road for us in the league.

"I was very disappointed with some aspects of our play last Sunday but we will be training on Tuesday night and we will be examining what went wrong and where we can improve because it is a simple fact that defeat on Saturday afternoon in Birmingham and our national hurling league is over.

"A win for Warwickshire puts them on 7 points and Roscommon are above us on scores, so we need to win on Saturday and win our last game against Louth and if we do that we would then go through on the head-to-head, so it's in our own hands really we know what we have to do, so its a matter of getting the minds right from the start."

As Trevor Hilliard analysed last Sunday's performance he agreed that there was big room for improvement.

"There are certain areas of our game from last Sunday that we have to improve on, but the conditions last Sunday definitely played a part because the tight field didn't suit us and Tyrone were able to crowd us out in possession. The pitch we are on Saturday is a bit tight as well, so we are going to have to figure out ways of breaking the line and see where we are going.

"I know we scored 18 points last Sunday and that's a good return but we are not getting enough of our forwards scoring, so more players are going to have to stand up. We need also to create and take more goal chances but apart from Fergal Rafter our big players didn't count last Sunday. Look when you assess it overall we are very clear as to what is at stake.

"The game was brought forward to Saturday at Monaghan's request, so we'll be travelling out early on Saturday morning and travelling back on Sunday and if things go according to plan, that would be a little bit of a break for the lads as well. We have to keep the main business in mind, though, because the championship is not far away and if we win on Saturday, then we have to be focused on our next game, but either way we won't be getting carried away, but I can tell you we need to be prepared for a big battle in Birmingham."

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