Defeated All-Ireland finalists Mayo will look to get their All-Ireland campaign off to a winning start when they face Sligo in Castlebar on Sunday at 2pm.
While winning Sam Maguire remains the ultimate aim of Stephen Rochford’s side, regaining the Connacht crown they surrendered to Galway will also be high on their ‘to do’ list.
The Westerners lost out to their fierce rivals by a goal in a semi-final at McHale Park last year, a defeat made all the worse by Galway going on to win a first provincial title since 2008.
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Mayo recovered, and a run through the qualifiers saw them set up a date with Dublin on the third Sunday in September – a day where two goals in what were bizarre circumstances saw the Dubs hold on for a draw.
The replay, on 1 October, saw the Dubs win by a point after a late, late free from Cillian O’Connor went wide.
That defeat will have hurt a side that have lost three titles in recent years – to Dublin in 2013 and Donegal in 2012 as well as last year – and some analysts feel that this is the year that the side need to step up and be counted before players fade away.
Earlier this month, Colm Cooper said that if "Mayo don’t bring Sam home this year, you'll see the group breaking up a little bit because they have been on the go quite a while."
Mayo welcome Ger Cafferkey back into their side after the full-back missed most of last season through injury, but Aidan O’Shea is not listed to start.
O’Shea, who had injury problems of his own during the Allianz League, was criticised for his attitude during the week, with pundit Bernard Flynn highlighting an incident where he posed for selfies with fans rather than taking part in a warmdown with his team-mates.
One would feel that if Mayo come out on top in this quarter-final, he will have no problem posing for a few more.
There are five changes in total to the Mayo side that lost that All-Ireland replay, with David Clarke starting in goal – having been surprisingly dropped for Robbie Hennelly that day in October – while Fergal Boland makes his Connacht SFC debut in the half forward line.
Niall Carew’s Sligo side come in to the tie having escaped from New York with an eight-point win in the preliminary round stage, but will face a much bigger challenge here.
That tie at Gaelic Park was almost a microcosm of Sligo’s league campaign – very good when they wanted to be, but struggling for consistency.
New York were ahead with less than 20 minutes remaining on the clock, before a goal from Kyle Cawley gave the Yeats County the momentum they needed to break the home resistance.
That lack of consistency cost them during their league campaign, and sees them resigned to another season in Division 3, despite beating both promoted sides – Tipperary and Louth.
There are some bright spots on the horizon, however. Their under 21 side surprised Roscommon to reach a provincial final, where they took eventual All-Ireland finalists Galway to extra-time.
They showed in New York that they have the mettle when the chips are down and will be hoping for an improvement on that performance in McHale Park.
Niall Carew sends out the same XV as last day, but even a marked improvement may not be enough to defeat a side ranked in the top three in the country by most pundits.
At the very least they will be hoping to come a lot closer than their 26-point defeat in the 2015 Connacht final, and attempt to build some momentum in the qualifiers.
Mayo: David Clarke; Chris Barrett, Ger Cafferkey, Keith Higgins; Colm Boyle, Lee Keegan, Patrick Durcan; Seamus O’Shea, Tom Parsons; Fergal Boland, Diarmuid O’Connor, Conor O’Shea; Kevin McLoughlin, Cillian O’Connor, Andy Moran.
Sligo: Aidan Devaney; Ross Donavan, Charlie Harrison, Eoin McHugh; Keelan Cawley, Brendan Egan, John Kelly; Paddy O'Connor, Adrian McIntyre; Neil Ewing, Mark Breheny, Kyle Cawley; Stephen Coen, Pat Hughes, Adrian Marren.
