Corey: Donaghy is class act

Monaghan's Vincent Corey has dismissed comments that he is the next Kieran Donaghy after the DCU Sigerson Cup winner was moved to full-forward from full-back during the Farney county's championship matches against Tyrone and Donegal.

Earlier today Corey received the Opel GPA Footballer of the Month award for July, following his excellent attacking performances in helping Monaghan almost come from behind to beat Tyrone in the Ulster final and then get the better of Donegal in the All-Ireland qualifiers.

But Corey believes that Donaghy, the towering Kerry forward, is in a class of his own and will pose a major threat to Monaghan in Sunday's All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park.

"A lot of people are saying that there seems to be this quest to find another Kieran Donaghy but I think there is only one Kieran Donaghy and he has proven that himself," Corey said.

"I think this comparison is more to do with the style of football Monaghan want to play rather than trying to find another Kieran Donaghy which I don't think many teams are going to do because there is only one of him."

The Clontibret player reckons that although Monaghan have not feared Kerry in the past, Sunday's game will certainly pose a huge test for his improving side.

"The challenge doesn't come any bigger than this. Obviously we have had some good performances this year but none of them performances will be sufficient enough to beat Kerry.

"They are very difficult to play against, they are All-Ireland champions and they have played in the last three All-Ireland finals so we are under no illusions about the challenge ahead of us. None of our performances to date will be good enough - we have to go up another two or three notches if we are to make an impact."

Last year Kerry travelled to Scotstown to take on Monaghan in a league match and almost travelled back to the Kingdom red-faced with a late Colm Cooper score securing the points.

Corey remembers the game vividly but is not keen on dwelling on that encounter too much - he believes that this Sunday's encounter will be a totally different game.

"It was very early on in the year (when we played them last season) and as we know Kerry don't usually peak until after the Munster championship.

"Obviously we got them early in Scotstown and we played them well that day and some people would say we were unlucky not to snatch a draw out of it but that's the way it goes.

"I don't think that match will have any bearing on the match on Sunday," he added.

And Corey feels that his side have certainly been learning all the way during this rollercoaster championship campaign.

"There is no doubt that we have made good progress this year. Obviously after the defeat in the Ulster final there were a lot of aspects we weren't happy with, so we sat down and looked at it and obviously tried to rectify some of the mistakes for the Donegal match, which we did.

"Then after looking at the Donegal match we saw some mistakes there as well so we are hoping to keep improving all of the time.

"With each match there has been a step up in the quality of the opposition. Kerry is another step up, they are All-Ireland champions and they are seen as favourites for the All-Ireland now. It's a big step up and we are going to have to match them physically as well as everything else."