Desire was winning factor for Collins

Roddy Collins was jubilant after his side came from being behind twice to win 3-2 over Shelbourne at Tolka Park, but said that he still believes that Shels and Cork will be promoted this season.

"Shels and Cork are the best two organisations in the league for sure" the Monaghan United told Extratime.ie. "[They're] two teams that will be promoted in my opinion."

Still, Collins was understandably pleased with his Monaghan United side - now sitting second in the First Division. "It's great to get a win... Coming here you know what they [Shels] have to offer, they've a lot of organisation [and] they've good players. The thing they lacked a little but was lacking was the desire that we had."

When asked about what exactly made the difference for Mons against Shels, Collins was clear: "desire, belief and good players." He continued, elaborating on which players he was referring to. "Good young players that people discarded. I won't say Fabio [Declan O'Brien] is a young player, but he's a top player who could have been signed by a few top clubs, they just didn't bother. [They're a] good group of lads."

The standout player for Monaghan on the night was Sean Brennan- who scored a brace of goals before being substituted because of an injury. "Sean's a top man, I just hope he's alright now" said Collins of the attacking midfielder. "He put some graft in... a top class performance from him, and everyone. I'm not going to single anyone out, but it was a top class performance."

Collins was especially satisfied with his side's ability to bounce back from being a goal down on two separate occasions. "To go a goal down after three minutes and to then absolutely control the game was very pleasing" he said. "To go in then at half time, we went in and believed that even if the scored at any time we could still pin them back. Then we felt in the dugout that we could get another one and go and win it. We could have won it by more."

"I have to be realistic though, on another night Shels could have scored four or five" acknowledged Collins. "But we'll take it, I've had a few good nights here in European football and in cup finals, and another good one tonight. Maybe it's a good ground for me."

His side may now lie second in the First Division table, but Collins dismissed the importance of his side's league position at this early stage in the season. "That means nothing. Second in the league in October is what you want."