By Cian O'Connell

New Roscommon manager Anthony Cunningham is hopeful Sunday's Connacht FBD League Final win over Galway will provide an injection of confidence.

Roscommon face a demanding Allianz Football League opener away to Mayo at Elverys MacHale Park on Saturday evening with Cunningham enouraged by the victory against Galway.

"Any day you come to another team’s home ground and win is good, especially against Galway who are a top class team," Cunningham says. "You’ve got to learn how to cope - you can’t train for them.

"It’s about how you react when things when you’re under pressure. Hopefully we can build from this. It’s about confidence and a win like that helps, but we have a lot of hard work ahead."

Roscommon defended with admirable determination throughout the match restricting Galway to a 1-5 total. "It’s a work in progress," Cunningham states. "They did well. It’s jsut coaching and practising and getting things as right as we can - also getting that bit cuter.

"Galway took their goal really well and threatened for one or two more, but we settled again and showed good composure, which was important."

A trip to Castlebar is next on the agenda for Roscommon, who return to the top tier following a year in Division Two. "We just want to playing these matches to learn and get better - can we improve week to week," Cunningham adds. 

"That’s the big question. Many of these guys haven't got a lot of Division One football so they’re really looking to it."