Monaghan manager Malachy O'Rourke has warned his players that a repeat of their performance in today's qualifier victory over Down wouldn't be good enough to book a place in the final four.
The Farney men gained revenge for their Ulster championship exit at the hands of the same opposition on a 1-24 to 1-16 scoreline at Croke Park.
Down were well in the game until the break however, when the sides went in deadlocked.
"At half-time we were level without having played particularly well," O'Rourke told RTÉ Sport.
"We were a bit too porous at the back. Down were 1-9 at half-time and had another goal chance or two that they didn't take. Going forward we weren't working scores as well as we liked.
"We knew we had to up it individually and as a team."
The draw for the All-Ireland SFC 1/4 finals takes place on RTÉ Radio 1's @sundaysport between 3.30pm & 4pm tomorrow https://t.co/PXA6mdrNDl pic.twitter.com/Z8mV70Xuzo
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) July 29, 2017
Up it they did, outscoring their opponents by 15 points to seven and ensuring a fourth quarter-final appearance in five years.
But if they are to go on and reach a first semi-final since 1988, O'Rourke feels a big improvement will be required next Saturday.
"We were better in the second half, there's no doubt about that, but there are still a lot of things that we know aren't going to be good enough going forward.
"We've a tough week ahead of us to try and get up to the speed of the teams we're playing next but it's a good place to be.
"It's either going to be Tyrone or Dublin and they're probably neck and neck in terms of favouritism for the All-Ireland.
"They're at a different level completely and we have an awful lot of work to do if we're going to be competitive."
WATCH highlights via GAANOW of @MonaghanGAA's win over @OfficialDownGAA as Malachy O'Rourke's side progressed to the All-Ireland Q-Finals pic.twitter.com/CG9g5Olkrn
— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 29, 2017
Down boss Eamonn Burns had little quibble with the result but was pleased his players battled to the final whistle.
"We played well in the first half," he said. "The second half got away from us a little but I thought we played hard till the end.
"We had a couple of goal chances. If they had gone in the result might have been different.
"But I thought Monaghan were worthy winners in the end. We can't have any complaints over the 70 minutes."
Down's season comes to a close following successive defeats to Tyrone and now Monaghan but there are undoubted positives to take from a year that saw them retain Division 2 status and reach an Ulster decider after ending a miserable run of 14 defeats.
"It's very disappointing because we came into today thinking we could win it," said Burns.
"It was very disappointing in the Ulster final because I thought we could have played a wee bit better. Again, the 10 minutes after half-time was crucial in that game.
"But I think we've made progress. We've added to the panel and there's more talent coming through from the under 21s.
"It looks positive for Down at the moment."
As for his own future after what has been a sometimes turbulent two years in the hotseat, the two-time All-Ireland winner said he would take time to reflect.
"I'll take a wee bit of time to sort that out and see where we are," he said.
"It's a wee bit early to be talking about that."
