Holmes shrugs off challenges facing Mayo

Mayo co-manager Pat Holmes is not concerned by the county’s lack of competitive games ahead of their All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-final meeting with Donegal on Saturday in Croke Park.

The Connacht champions have played just two matches so far in the Championship with wins over Galway and Sligo.

Rory Gallagher’s side have five games under their belt, with the only defeat a one-point loss to Monaghan in the Ulster decider.

But Holmes said that Mayo’s intense training sessions make up for their shortfall.

He told RTÉ Sport: “All we can do is focus on ourselves. Some people look at it as a disadvantage - we don't. We have very, very competitive in-house training games. Training has gone very, very well. We believe we are going in to Saturday in very, very good shape.

“We believe it is a difficult assignment. We know obviously Donegal were probably unlucky to lose the Ulster final by a point. They played very, very well particularly in the second half against Galway but these are the challenges you have to meet head on and we believe we are playing very, very well at the moment. We're really looking forward to Saturday evening.”

The manner in which Mayo cruised by Sligo has also been mooted as a concern for the Green and Red – and arguably a lack of a genuine test so far this year – again Holmes said it is something his county just have to deal with.

“We don't see it as a disadvantage. Every time you go out and play you want to put in a big performance. It was no different in the Connacht final against Sligo and what we are happy with is we continued to play and didn't look at the scoreline. The guys continued to play from the first minute to the right minute.

“In Mayo there is always going to be expectation. I think the players are very, very experienced and they have learnt to deal with that and all that concerns the group of players and management is what happens within the group. We can't control anything outside of the group. So all we are concerned about is next Saturday at 6pm against Donegal and putting in a big performance.”