It may be a stretch too far to prove his fitness for Sunday's Division 1 Allianz Football League final at Croke Park, but Mayo’s record scorer Cillian O’Connor is desperately hoping to get the green light to face Galway.
The 30-year-old started just one league game as Kevin McStay’s side finished top of the table.
With fresh faces emerging as first-team options, and the buzz of new management in place, Mayo appear to be in a good place ahead of the latest quest to land Sam Maguire, which begins Sunday week against Roscommon.
O’Connor, the highest scorer in the history of the All-Ireland championship, has had his fair share of injury woes over the last couple of years.
The latest, a bang to the back of his knee, is well down the list of serious setbacks, though McStay intimated at the weekend that O'Connor would most likely not bee seen until the Roscommon game at least. The player himself is more optimistic.
"I’m still hoping for this weekend. I’m trying to push for inclusion but it might just be too tight," he said, speaking ahead of the Allianz Division 1 decider.
The last few years have been challenging to say the least.
Knee surgery in 2018 saw him sidelined for more than six months while an Achilles injury ruled him of the 2021 championship. O’Connor started all four games in James Horan’s last championship in charge, but admits he was never 100%, missing chunks of training to give himself any chance of playing in a forward line shorn of Ryan O'Donoghue and Tommy Conroy.
With Conroy’s return, Aidan O’Shea’s blossoming role up front and the likes of Jordan Flynn and James Carr making greater contributions to the scoreboard, O’Connor is keen to remind McStay of what he brings to the table.
"It’s been different [not starting], but at the same time it has been a chance to watch the games from a different vantage point and maybe note one or two things that you might be able to exploit when you get in," he said, having missed the last two rounds of games.
"It has been great to see lads that this might be their first year or even lads that have put in two, three or four years of work in the squad very much behind the scenes, in what can be a very difficult position when you are in first.
"It is a credit to a lot of the lads, who went through a year or two of that or more, bided their time and kept getting better. Their performances now are testament to their own hard work."
Another player who has thrived in the early stages of the season is long-time team-mate O’Shea.
The Breaffy man has caused havoc on the edge of the square, though whether he remains there remains to be seen.
"I don't think it's set in stone that he's definitely there all the time, but he's doing well for now," O'Connor asked when asked on the best place to deploy the three-time All-Star.
"He's playing really well, getting plenty of supply from out the field, and plenty of help from other forwards around him as well.
"Some of his best games came in games we lost, or there were examples where he might have won 10 balls and laid them off, and we didn't get any scores off them. So, the good performance from him might get overlooked.
"I think he's probably doing what he's always done, maybe playing a little bit better but it's good to see him enjoying his football."
While the reliance on O'Connor has lessened, it’s difficult to imagine the two-time Young Footballer of the Year not in the starting XV when fully fit.
Since making his debut against London in 2011, the full-forward has been at the coal face of Mayo’s absorbing quest to end a Sam Maguire drought that stretches back to 1951.
Embarking on a 13th season at senior level allows him a different perspective on those earlier years.
"You kind of get consumed by the season, by each one. You get so selfish or inward facing about training, a short-term view, session to session, so you don't feel the time passing and you don't feel the years passing.
"I try to enjoy it a bit more. I suppose, cherish the opportunity and the privilege it is to play, just be mindful of that. It isn't going to go on forever so you have to enjoy it - enjoy the training sessions, enjoy the graft and then hope it comes together in the games.
"It's a privileged position you're in. Obviously, we have to work hard but there's thousands of fellas who would jump in my shoes in the morning if they could get a chance to play."
Any joust with neighbours Galway is certainly such an occasion to savour, and the forward says there has been an extra pep in the step in training this week.
Even allowing for the league caveats, setting a marker against a provincial rival and a run-out at GAA headquarters is not something they are taking lightly, especially with fresh eyes on the Mayo sideline and championship spots down for decision.
"It's been exciting for the whole group. I don't think there would have been anyone in the group who would have been coached by Kevin before so it's been all new for us and it's good to get fresh perspectives on things.
"There might be feedback that you'd pick up from the new lads that you mightn't have got before or maybe some blind spots that you have that they might notice.
"I've enjoyed those conversations and little things we've been doing in training so yeah, there's been a freshness to the whole thing."
Mayo’s request to have the final brought forward 24 hours given the Connacht opener falling a week later was turned down by Croke Park, but O’Connor understands the tight schedule affors little wiggle room.
Regardless, the plan is to build on the early season body of work and if that is good enough to land a second league title in four years, so be it.
Loftier ambitions are driving the latest Mayo mission.
"A couple of those big games in the league could have gone either way and went down to the wire. Two of our games were draws; we could have dropped points in either of those. So, it's early days yet.
"We'd be hoping to be better as the season goes on."
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