Jim McGuinness was disappointed with Donegal’s defending in their 3-20 to 3-16 victory over an already-relegated Monaghan.

The win in Clones sets up a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland SFC final against Kerry in next Sunday’s Allianz Football League decider. However, McGuinness stressed the need for Donegal to be tighter at the back if they’re to turn the tables.

“We would be happy with a lot of it,” the Donegal manager told reporters.

“We wouldn’t be happy at all with some of it as well. Three goals conceded in the first half and not at the pitch of it in terms of the defensive aspects.

“But there were a lot of other things when you take a step back and look at the numbers that you would be happy with. But certainly, it wouldn’t be any good in Croke Park that first half.”

He added: “Monaghan got a lot of oxygen in the first half and brought a lot of energy. To be fair, we didn’t match in the way we should have in the first half from an intensity point of view.

“We started the game quite well and we got good pressure on the Monaghan kickout and we were very good in front of the posts ourselves.

“So there were a lot of things you would be happy with, but the big one is keeping the score down at the other end and we didn’t do that well.”

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