Garbiel Bannigan admitted that staying in Division 1 of the Allianz Football League was always going to be a big ask for Monaghan whose relegation was confirmed following a sixth straight defeat at home to Galway.

The Farney County suffered a number of retirements during the off-season, while matters have since been compounded by a lengthy injury list that has undoubtedly contributed to their disappointing run of results.

"The reality is Division 1 was too high a step up for us, considering 20 players who played for us last year in Division 2 last year we didn't have for most of this league campaign," the Monaghan manager told RTÉ.

"Some won't be coming back. There are a couple of boys who went travelling, we've had three retirements, and a few left the panel. We've been missing 10, 11, or 12 of our top 20 for most of the league games. You just can't manage on that in Division 1.

"We've given 16 debuts in six games and there is a serious level of turnover and transition.

"Thank God we were in Division 1. If we were in Division 2, with all the issues we've had this year, we could be heading for relegation to Division 3."

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