Finlay fears Ulster final exertions could cost Monaghan against Mayo

Conor McManus and Paul Finlay feel Monaghan's response to Ulster final heartbreak, and February's heavy league defeat to Mayo, will reveal plenty about where the county stands

Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan in the dugout after his side's Ulster SFC final defeat to Armagh. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

BACK of the bus, crawling up Clones hill, the smell of diesel and hamburgers outside, while the Garda escort forces the excited hordes to either side of the road. The neat symmetry of it all as the Monaghan team bus carves a familiar path.

The seating arrangements on the bus are ingrained in Conor McManus’s head.