Derry boss Ciaran Meenagh has no interest in Monaghan / Donegal as Oakleafers prepare for Clare

Any one of the three Ulster counties can still travel the direct route to the All Ireland quarter-finals with Monaghan and Derry both on three points from two games. Despite those small margins and the identical throw in times of the final fixtures, Meenagh says it would be a "recipe for disaster" to try and keep one eye on proceedings in Healy Park.

"I will not be unless someone makes me aware of it," explained the Derry manager if he would like to know how the Monagah - Donegal game was progressing in real time.

"To be hones, that's a dangerous thing to do, in fact it's a recipe for disaster. We will just play the first minute of our game and then the second minute; then the first five, the first 10 and so on. We feel if we can maximise our end of the deal against Clare and do our job then other things will take care of themselves."

Avoiding defeat will ensure Derry one of the top two spots in the group but to claim top spot they must better Monaghan's result against Donegal, who themselves can go through in first place if they defeat the Farney and Derry lose against Clare. Both Derry and Monaghan go into their final group fixtures with an identical score difference of plus five.

Every position in the final group standing holds significance with the runner-up securing a home tie in the preliminary quarter-final draw though Meenagh admits he'd prefer to avoid the scenic route.

"I'll not lie, it (topping the group) would certainly be a prize for us because of the route that we have travelled," he admitted. "There may be other teams for whom, in the long run, an extra game may do them no harm and the momentum of winning would be good. But look, we played in a difficult Division Two, we got to a National League final and then went straight into difficult Ulster campaign and all that went with it.

"To come back straight back out of that and then play a team you had beaten in the semi-final and then another Ulster derby, we probably would prefer the two weeks but that's down to us to ensure that we deliver on that."

Derry hit 3-05 from play in the victory over Donegal in Ballybofey, a tally which included goals from defenders Conor Doherty and Padraig McGrogan among an impressive spread of Oak Leaf scorers. It took the Oak Leafers' season total to 8-81 across five championship outings, an average of 21 points per game, and Meenagh is hoping Derry can play on the front foot again in Pearse Park.

"It can be different on any given day. One day it can be Shane (McGuigan), sometimes it can be a spread of scorers. This week it could be somebody else, it just depends on how the cards fall. You have to be prepared to play them as it goes," he added.

"I think we have potential coming out of every area of the field. We have a number of forwards who are starting to show they could come to the boil at the right time."