John Evans jumped to the defence of his Roscommon side after they twice surrendered five-point leads in their All-Ireland qualifier defeat by Fermanagh.

The colourful Killorglin man, who famously predicted after the Rossies' promotion to Division 1 of the Allianz League in the spring that they would be future All-Ireland contenders, told RTE: "There's no doubt about it, we did leave it behind us. But I'd be the first to stand up for this team. They came up here, they played great football and they were missing a lot of players and a lot of young players stood up there today.

"The game really showed how important the home venue is because everything went Fermanagh's way in the last six or seven minutes. There was decision after decision after decision that went Fermanagh's way and that was the momentum they had.

"Our lads weren't able to cope with it, but it's something that I think they'll learn from next year in Division 1. Having played great football they have to finish off the game."

Evans maintains it was a successful year for Roscommon, despite their disappointing championship campaign.

"Look these guys are very down and hurting," he added.

"But we've had a great year in developing the team. To think that we were missing eight players there today and Roscommon can't afford to do that.

"I was delighted with the young lads: the Ultan Harneys, the Kieran Murtaghs, the Enda Smyths, the Donie Smyths, the Cian Connollys, all those guys are coming up along the line and I think these lads are going to come in time."

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