Paul Finlay return a timely boost for Monaghan

Paul Finlay has rejoined the Monaghan senior football panel and insists there’ll be no hint of panic if the team is relegated tomorrow.

The 33-year-old returned to training last week having sat out the first three months of the season to rest a calf injury picked up at the end of last year. While he doesn’t expect to see any action in tomorrow’s final Division One clash against Donegal, he hopes to be in contention for the championship opener with Down on June 5.

“It’s been a different approach for me sitting out the first few months of the season, but I stayed in touch with Malachy (O’Rourke) and Ryan (Porter) the whole time.

“Throughout my career I’ve never had that length of a break but after picking up the calf injury it seemed the best thing was to let it rest. There was some talk that I’d retired but that was never the case. I was working on my own and rejoined the panel last week and it’s good to be back. Now it’s a matter of trying to get back up to match fitness and get some game time.”

Finlay, who made his debut in 2003, has seen a lot of ups and downs during his inter-county career and insists relegation won’t be the end of the world.

Donegal, the team they’ve met in the last three Ulster SFC finals, could put them down while Mayo and Cork are not yet safe from the trap door either.

“We’ve had a couple of good results and a couple of poor performances against Cork and Kerry which was not what we wanted. Division One is a tough environment and if you’re not firing on all cylinders, you won’t come out on top.

“Whatever happens, it’s nothing to get disillusioned about or panic about. The league will be quietly forgotten in a few weeks and the focus will turn quickly to the championship.