One scandalous stat shows that Monaghan have no bloody right to be favourites against Down

Monaghan don't get enough credit for how competitive they have been in the gaelic football world over the last few years.

They've earned a reputation for themselves as one of the big counties, as four All-Ireland quarter final appearances in the last five years would suggest, as well as two Ulster titles in that same period. They may not be shooting the lights out so far this year, and their Ulster semi final loss to the Saturday's opponents Down has summed up their season to date, but they are still widely tipped to make it to the last four stage. The Farney Army, according to last year's census have a population of only 61'273, which makes them the fourth least populated county in Ireland. Malachy O'Rourke's men will represent these 61'273 people with distinction in Saturday's All-Ireland qualifier, but they will be taking on a county, in Down, that has more than eight and a half times it's population. The 2016 census revealed that there are 531'665 Mourne men and women. There are certain areas in the county of Down, particularly in the north where GAA isn't as popular or isn't even played at all. That's some stark deficit, and population levels of counties does obviously have a bearing in a county's success rates, but some counties, like Monaghan, just have that ability to punch above their weight. The men of Monaghan will go into Saturday's Croke Park clash as 4/11 favourites with most bookies, with Down rank outsiders at 3-1 and this is some testament  to the standards that Monaghan have set for themselves in recent times. Despite this population deficit, Monaghan have only a handful less gaelic football clubs than Down. There are 33/34 football clubs in Monaghan, and there is 36 in Down. It shows that despite their lesser population, there is a huge interest in gaelic football all over the county and with an Ulster minor win in 2013, and an under-21 win in 2016, they'll be knocking around for some time yet. Monaghan named an unchanged team for the Croke Park clash which throws in at 5:00, and having survived a legitimate scare against Carlow earlier this month, they will be hoping they can justify favouritism again. It's some achievement for the county to be dining at the top table of gaelic football, with Roscommon the only other county with such a low population to be competing at this level. They may not have the biggest pick, but the men they do have are worth their weight in gold.