2 days ago
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Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan insists the absence of key players is "not an excuse" for his side's 1-27 to 0-18 defeat by Armagh on Sunday.
The Monaghan boss remains without the bulk of his Scotstown contingent, aside from Ryan O'Toole who started the Division One match, with Bannigan saying his "hand was forced" to start the defender having lost Ryan Wylie to illness overnight.
The Farneymen are without a host of injured players, including Conor McCarthy, while Davy Garland, Fionan Carolan, Alistair Stewart and Shane Hanratty have all joined the lengthy injury list since last week's Dr McKenna Cup final defeat by Donegal.
Still, Bannigan refused to use this as a reason for their poor showing, especially in attack during the first half he felt wasn't "up to the standards of Division One".
"It's well documented the amount of men we are missing from last year, but we have to talk about who we have and it's a steep learning curve," Bannigan said.
"On the positive side, I thought some of the newer players showed quite well. We had four debutants from the start and three more from the bench - a lot of lads in one go. We had to do that because at the moment we have to go with what we have.
"When it rains, it pours. We were already missing players and lost five more over the last week but that's not an excuse.
"We had a good enough team on the pitch in that first half and have to play a lot better than what we did, so we have to look in the mirror, take a lot of learnings and move on."
Next up for Monaghan is a trip to Dr Hyde Park to face Roscommon next Sunday [14:00 GMT] where Bannigan stressed his team "must be better" than their opening game.
The Rossies were pipped at the death against Kerry in Killarney in their opener, so will take encouragement from that performance according to the Monaghan manager.
"It's always a huge test going to the Hyde; I'm not sure how many years it's been since Monaghan won there," Bannigan added.
"Last year it was probably the toughest game we had in Division Two, so it will be a tough game.
"Roscommon will be buoyed by that performance down in Kerry, so we will have to be a lot better than today of we are going to put it up to him."
