Mark McHugh: Armagh put themselves on pedestal

Former Donegal footballer Mark McHugh has expressed the view that "Armagh people put themselves on a pedestal" ahead of the Ulster Championship final between the two counties on Sunday.

Speaking on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio One, McHugh reacted to a midweek interview in which former Armagh manager Joe Kernan included the Orchardmen in his current top five strongest Gaelic football teams in the country.

Kernan, who made the comments on Off The Ball, led Armagh to their sole All-Ireland success in 2002, and victory over Donegal on Sunday would mark their first provincial crown since 2008.

"Armagh is a funny team," said 2012 All-Ireland winner McHugh. "I listened to Joe Kernan yesterday and he was saying his top five. He had Dublin, Derry, Galway, Armagh and Mayo as his top five. He didn't have Kerry in it, he didn't have Donegal.

"That might be one of Armagh's biggest problems. They think they're a lot better than they are, and I'm not saying that they're not a good team, but they put themselves up at that top pedestal.

"Armagh haven't won a major trophy in 16 or 17 years and for them to think that they're in the top three or four in Ireland, I think that might just be their problem.

"They have good footballers and I do think they have really improved this year. I put that down to Conleith Gilligan going in and giving them that extra wee bit of a lift."

Despite his assertion that Armagh aren't among the All-Ireland elite, McHugh still expects an evenly matched encounter between Kieran McGeeney's side and Jim McGuinness' Donegal at St Tiernach's Park on Sunday.

"Pound for pound I think that Donegal are the better footballers at the minute but that doesn't mean that they're going to win tomorrow," added McHugh. "It's going to be a