Mayo v Dublin, McHale Park, 6.30pm

Saturday, February 11
Allianz Football League Division I,
Mayo v Dublin, McHale Park, 6.30pm

It might be very early days in the Alianz Football League, but Mayo sit on top of Division One after the first round of games. Their manager, James Horan, is hoping that’s exactly where they finish at the end of the competition, suggesting after their opening day win over Laois that his side have realistic ambitions of winning the League this year.

That might seem like a statement that could come back and bite Horan, but it’s one that is consistent with the general feeling in the county, with thoughts of a first League title since 2001 suddenly seeming less than ludicrous on the back of last year’s impressive Championship run.

In order to achieve that ambition, the Westerners will have to turn McHale Park into a fortress. They face the All-Ireland champions Dublin and the sides that contested the 2010 final, Cork and Down, at home this year and will need a substantial return from those three games to make the semi-finals. Last year’s four home games netted just four points, with defeats to Kerry and Armagh offset by a win over Cork in Round 6 and a draw with Down in their opener.

Their first major test comes against Dublin in front of the Setanta Sports cameras on Saturday night. Dublin will no doubt still be reeling from their defeat to rivals Kerry in Croke Park and their manager, Pat Gilroy, will be keenly aware that another defeat would severely hinder their chances of making the knock-out stages of the competition.

Mayo will be full of confidence after their six-point win over Laois in O’Moore Park, where the fit-again Conor Mortimer had to vie for the man-of-the-match award with Alan Freeman. Mortimer’s return after a full season out with a cruciate knee injury has been a major bonus for Horan and Mayo. The 2006 GAA All Star is exactly the kind of deadly finisher Horan requires given the move towards more defensive, counter-attacking football in recent times.

Dublin may have been given a guard of honour onto the Croke Park pitch by Kerry, but that is exactly where the pleasantries ended as the Kingdom played within themselves and still managed to dish out a six-point drubbing to the All-Ireland champions. It’s something Dublin will have to get used to as All-Ireland title holders: every side they face in the League will have that little bit of motivation to try and knock the champions off their perch.

Dublin manager Pat Gilroy was certainly disappointed with his side’s performance, but perhaps their sluggishness was something to do with the fact that they had trained 40 times in January. Still, Gilroy was critical of some basic elements of their play.

"We are very disappointed we didn't perform at all in the second-half. We weren't at the races and giving the ball far away too much. Our work-rate wasn't what it should have been. We know we have plenty to do and that is for certain."

Dublin will be without Eamon Fennell for the trip west after his red card minutes after he came on in Croke Park, while Michael Fitzsimons is ruled out through injury and is replaced by Darren Daly. Dublin fans will be hoping that the Brogan brothers, Alan and Bernard, although not named in the starting XV, can be called upon at some stage to lend some much-needed zest to a forward line that looked flat last week.

One of the few bright notes from a Dublin point of view was the performance of Kevin McManamon, who scored three points from play and did his chances of being permanently included on the ‘40’ no harm at all. There were problems in midfield when Michael Darragh Macauley ran himself into the ground, while the free-taking of Mossie Quinn and Diarmuid Connolly was shown up by the accuracy of goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton.

It’s far too early for anything resembling panic in the Dublin camp and they could well use this game to vent their frustrations from last week. There were seven goals in the game when the sides met last year – Dublin won by 4-15 to 3-13 in an extraordinary match – but Mayo are a far more solid in defence now and a repeat of anything resembling that scoreline is highly unlikely.