Eamonn Fitzmaurice attributes Ulster counties’ strong start to the Allianz Football League to a competitive Dr McKenna Cup.

Eight of the nine Ulster counties made winning starts last weekend, while Fermanagh drew away to Meath.

“The thing with the Ulster teams is they always, for the most part, take the McKenna Cup very seriously,” the former Kerry manager told RTE’s Morning Ireland.

“That translates into early season league form as well. They had a massive weekend.

“Monaghan, in particular, had a great win. On Saturday, I would have been wondering were they one of the candidates for relegation, as we say every year. They always defy the odds. They've a great record against Dublin.

“Their performance on Saturday evening was fantastic. Maybe the fact that some of their leaders, the likes of Darren Hughes and Conor McManus, aren't back yet, allowed space for the others.

“Stephen O'Hanlon had an outstanding performance, Micheál Bannigan was very good, I thought Killian Lavelle was outstanding at full-back, considering he was converted as a midfielder and was picking up Con O'Callaghan.

“It's a hard thing to do at the best of times, but when you consider the amount of flux that has been there from last season, they deserve massive credit from that win.”

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