'Nice headache' without Scotstown crop - Bannigan

Monaghan senior football manager Gabriel Bannigan feels the current absence of his Scotstown contingent "is a nice headache to have" as his side take part in the Dr McKenna Cup.

The Ulster and Monaghan champions face Roscommon's St Brigid's in their All-Ireland Club Senior Football Championship semi-final on Sunday at Breffni Park [15:00 GMT] - the same venue where Bannigan's charges overcame Cavan in their pre-season opener on Saturday evening.

Should 'An Bhoth' prevail, they will have an All-Ireland final to look forward to on Sunday, 18 January - seven days before Monaghan host Armagh in their Division One league opener.

While that could mean the Scotstown contingent will return to county duty a little later, Bannigan feels it affords opportunities for others to stake their claim.

"The Scotstown boys have done brilliant to win Ulster and I wish them the best of luck - I hope they win and go on to that All-Ireland final," Bannigan told BBC Sport NI following Monaghan's 0-16 to 0-13 Dr McKenna Cup win over Cavan.

"I've been saying to our lads the Scotstown players' preparation is going on on one side and we have to box that off to get on with our thing.

"It means we're giving more opportunities to other fellas and hopefully we will be the beneficiary of that at the end of the summer."

Despite the freezing temperatures, a healthy crowd of 2,083 gathered on Saturday for the meeting of south Ulster neighbours and Bannigan says the return of the pre-season competition is a plus, following its absence in 2025.

"I'm on record as a fan of the McKenna Cup as we get competitive games and got a good run-out there tonight with seven debutants from the start and another eight off the bench," he added.

"It's great to get minutes into those boys and we acquitted ourselves well in most parts of the game. There are things we wouldn't be happy with, but that's the case with every game.

"It's six months since anyone saw their county play and if it wasn't so cold, I'd imagine there would be four or five thousand here tonight.

"Even so, it was a good crowd, bit of an atmosphere, better for the players and a good, competitive game of football and good to get the new year off to a winning start."