Sligo may have coasted to victory in their Connacht SFC semi-final against New York on Saturday, but manager Tony McEntee is aware that his charges will have to prove more ruthless when they face Roscommon or defending champions Galway in the provincial decider.
Yeats County full-forward Patrick O'Connor netted two goals as the home side recored a 2-16 to 0-06 win at Markievicz Park, but the home side's second-half finishing left something to be desired.
"I'm very pleased, I thought we played some good football under conditions that weren't brilliant, but we dominated the game and we played well," the Armagh man told RTÉ Sport.
"To be fair, I think the opposition found the occasion and the travel more awkward than ourselves."
On that profligacy in front of the posts in the second period when Sligo were already out of sight, McEntee said: "I think it's just casualness more than anything else.
"Today's game is going to be no reflection on what happens in two weeks' time.
"We're going to go into that game obviously looking forward to it and excited by it, and we'll hope to cut down on some of those errors and judgement issues."
These are heady times for Sligo football, with their Under-20's defending the provincial crown they won for the first time in 2022 during the week, while the county has also experienced recent success at schools level.
This year's Allianz League Division 4 champions are clearly in the ascendency, but how they will fare in championship action against the game's leading teams is unclear.
"Honestly, we won't know until we're in there," McEntee admitted.
"We believe we're in reasonable condition and we've good pace within the team, we believe we've a number of qualities Division 1 teams have, but we'll test it out and we'll see.
"We won't be anxious going into these games. We'll try our best and do what we have to do and we'll prepare properly for it and look forward to the games.
"We'll not be worried and wondering are we inferior to everybody else. That's not the mindset we'll have."
After a headline-grabbing first Connacht SFC victory for New York a fortnight ago, romantics and neutrals alike were willing Leitrim's conquerors on, but manager Johnny McGeeney and his team refused to get carried away by that result over a fellow minnow.
"The talk was from other people," McGeeney said. "We knew what we were up against and we were coming to Sligo's home.
"As you could see they were well drilled, they're ready and they will do well in the Connacht final.
"We've no complaints, Sligo were the far better team today."
New York finished with 14 men after sub Niall Madine was red carded with 10 minutes remaining, although McGeeney felt Robert Wharton's black card earlier in the game had a bigger bearing on the outcome.
"The game was well gone by then, Niall's black card was more of a sickener.
"I didn't see what happened, but I would have liked to have finished with 15 men, for sure."
A Tailteann Cup campaign beckons for New York next, but balancing work with transatlantic travel is likely to impact McGeeney's panel.
"It's not easy to get off work and leave on a Wednesday," he said.
"Not all of them work for Irish companies, so we're going to have to regroup next week and hope that we'll have the 26-man squad for June."
Watch Roscommon v Galway in the Connacht Football Championship semi-final on Sunday from 3.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on the RTÉ News app or RTÉ.ie/Sport or listen to live commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch highlights on The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
