MCSTAYING THE COURSE
Rossies march on Croker with hope NOT lost
Kev hopes Rossies can be one to spoil Dubs unbeaten run
KEVIN MCSTAY hopes his Roscommon players will rise to the occasion against Dublin at Croke Park and temporarily forget their relegation troubles.
The Rossies are the only team in Ireland without a League win and last weekend’s reversal in Monaghan all but relegated them. Defeat to unbeaten Dublin tomorrow will confirm their demotion and bring to a close a difficult few months for Mcstay who is without many of his best players from 2016 and has faced criticism over his Mayo background by some. With safety no longer a concern the players can let the shackles off and go for broke but boss Mcstay said: “Well, it’s Croke Park, it doesn’t really work like that I don’t think. The buildup will look after itself. “I was asking the boys last week about what was ahead and about taking it in three blocks. The middle block would be facing Dublin and it was all, ‘that will be fantastic, can’t wait to play there’. “Some of them mightn’t have played there before either so I think it will look after itself to a certain degree. That’s not to say the challenge you’re up against it’s a massive one.” Ultan Harney and Cathal Co m p ton returned to the bench against Monaghan following injury and came on as subs along with Diarmuid Murtagh. But it’s the players that aren’t involved that most supporters in Roscommon are talking about. Senan Kilbride, Geoffrey Claffey and Niall Carty retired over the winter while Donie Shine, David Keenan, Sean Purcell and James Mcdermott aren’t available. Key duo Cathal Cregg and Neil Collins are also absent this year due to college and work commitments. Former Roscommon captain Shane Curran believes the talent drain is partly down to the departure of Fergal O’donnell as joint manager last September. And Curran was critical of Mcstay for not welcoming all players back this year. Curran told the GAA Hour podcast: “Kevin did state that there was a new slate (after O’donnell left) and maybe this is one of the reasons why there is some maybe antagonism in the county towards him.” Mcstay himself says he’s only eyeing a strong finish to the campaign with ties against Dublin and Cavan to come. Mcstay said: “We so badly want to get two points before we leave this division. It looks like the Cavan game is going to be a very, very big game.”