Tomás Ó Sé says Mayo can't afford to lose to Tyrone on Sunday as they continue their quest for their first points of the 2025 Allianz League campaign.
A poor 2024 led to a county board review for manager Kevin McStay but the former RTÉ GAA pundit survived. He has been forced to plan for the new year without experienced duo Cillian O'Connor and Pádraig O'Hora however, with both opting out of the panel for 2025 at least.
McStay could have done with a bright start to the new campaign but the Green and Red have lost their opening two games - a close-fought contest with Dublin at Croke Park, before a more painful humbling against old rivals Galway in Castlebar.
They return to Hastings Insurance MacHale Park this Sunday and for Ó Sé, it's a game that Mayo have to take something from.
"Mayo are in a bit of bother already," he said on the RTÉ GAA Podcast. "It depends where you are, and what you want to achieve.
"The fact that Galway have won the Connacht Championship in the last couple of years, they are being questioned that little bit more.
"There is that little bit more pressure involved this year. They've lost a couple of players; players have stepped away. They will need a win."
Predicting games during the league can be a fool's errand and league form is no guarantee of a long summer, as Derry and Dublin - last year's Division 1 finalists - can both attest to.
But for Ó Sé, the goal of sides in the top flight is not necessarily in lifting the trophy at the end of March. Rather, it's about getting games against the country's best outfits early in the year.
"Definitely whoever loses that game will be looking at themselves, and that's where the interesting side of it is," the former Kerry defender continued.
"We all know how competitive Division 1 is and that every team up there... their aim isn't to win Division 1 but they want to stay up there.
"You learn so much from the teams that you play, and the pace you play [at] and the physicality. Everything is as good as you'll get before championship, and the league runs straight into the championship.
"Mayo could be under a bit of pressure there. Tyrone will want to turn the screw a small bit. Don't get me wrong, there's a running joke that you write Mayo off at your peril and that's true.
"But they do seem to be a completely different team than they were three or four years ago."
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Watch Kerry v Dublin in the Allianz Football League on Saturday from 7.20pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates around the country on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
