by John P Graham

Monaghan manager Malachy O'Rourke says he has "great belief" that his players can step up to the mark against Down the second time round in this Saturday's All-Ireland SFC qualifier at Croke Park.

The Farney men were stunned by Eamonn Burns' charges in last month's Ulster semi-final clash at the Athletic Grounds, where a fired-up Mourne outfit upset odds of 5/1 to advance to their first decider in the northern province since 2003.

This weekend sees O'Rourke's men looking to book an All-Ireland quarter-final berth for the first time in two years and the Derrylin native says he's confident his side can produce a performance at headquarters.

"As a management team we have great belief in the players because there is quality and experience in the Monaghan panel and we have seen that over the five years we are involved," O'Rourke said.

"Hopefully all those characteristics will come out on Saturday night. We see it as a 50-50 game and essentially it will be down to whoever performs best that will win it. Some would say the wide open spaces of Croke Park will suit Monaghan better, but we have to take that in the context that Down are a good team and they also are known to perform well in Croke Park, although we have shown that form as well in league finals and even in the league game against Dublin.

"All the big games are played in Croke Park and if you are going to be involved at the business end of the season, Croke Park is the place to be and we are looking forward to getting back there on Saturday evening."

O'Rourke reports a clean bill of health this week and says the sole focus is on Saturday's re-match, despite the prospect of a quarter-final date with the All-Ireland champions awaiting the victors.

"Thankfully, it looks as if we will have a full panel to pick from, although there are a couple of little knocks and niggly injuries from the last couple of games but all the lads are training well and we should have a full fit squad to choose from," he stated.

"I know there was some talk of if we defeat Down and the other result between Armagh and Kildare goes a certain way we could be playing Dublin, but we have learned over the years that you don't look past what is immediately in front of you and it is Down that is in front of us.

"That is all we will be concentrating on, not what might be or what might come, but I can say that if we put in a big performance and get a result then everything else will take care of itself."

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