"I'm convinced that the clash of Mayo and Donegal will be a great match."
Like the rest of us, former Mayo manager James Horan is relishing the prospect of his native county renewing acquaintances with Donegal this evening.
A repeat of the 2012 All-Ireland final and the 2013 All-Ireland quarter-final, Horan and Jim McGuinness may have exited the stage but the rivalry rages on and, today, Noel Connelly/Pat Holmes and Rory Gallagher face the biggest test of their fledgling senior inter-county management careers.
It has been very much a case of so far so good for Mayo who did all that was asked of them in claiming a fifth Connacht SFC title in-a-row but last year's defeated All-Ireland finalists are sure to make life awkward for them and it will be interesting to see how they respond to that challenge.
Mayo have played just two championship games this summer whereas Donegal have six tough encounters under their belt.
"All we can do is focus on ourselves. Some people look at it as a disadvantage - we don't," Pat Holmes remarked.
"We have very, very competitive in-house training games. Training has gone very, very well. We believe we are going into 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."
As expected, Mayo have stuck with the team that romped to a 26 point Nestor Cup final victory over Sligo and they will look to Aidan O'Shea, who scored 3-4 against the Yeats County, to lead from the front.
Donegal, meanwhile, are boosted by the return of former Footballer of the Year Karl Lacey who was sidelined with a knee injury for last weekend's 3-12 to 0-11 qualifier win over Galway.
Lacey (centre-back) and Martin McElhinney (midfield) are included at the expense of Eamonn Doherty and Hugh McFadden.
"Mayo are a top, top side and are definitely unfortunate not to have won an All-Ireland over the last four or five years." Donegal star Colm McFadden stated. "They've probably been the most consistent team in the country during that time. So they're going to be formidable opposition."
Verdict - Mayo.
Mayo team: David Clarke; Ger Cafferkey, Donal Vaughan, Keith Higgins; Lee Keegan, Tom Cunniffe, Colm Boyle; Séamus O'Shea, Tom Parsons; Diarmuid O'Connor, Aidan O'Shea, Kevin McLoughlin; Andy Moran, Cillian O'Connor, Jason Doherty.
Donegal team: Paul Durcan; Paddy McGrath, Neil McGee, Eamon McGee; Ryan McHugh, Karl Lacey, Frank McGlynn; Neil Gallagher, Martin McElhinney; Martin O'Reilly, Odhran MacNiallais, Mark McHugh; Paddy McBrearty, Michael Murphy, Colm McFadden.
Match details: Saturday; Croke Park; 6pm.
Referee: David Gough.
Odds: Mayo 4/7; Draw 8/1; Donegal 5/4.
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