Paul Conroy says Galway will have to deliver an improved performance to beat Mayo on Sunday.

As the Tribesmen prepare to meet the defending champions in this weekend's provincial championship opener in Salthill, Conroy points out that they have suffered too many narrow defeats in recent seasons:

"The facts don't lie and we have been beaten by a single point far too often in the championship since we lost the Connacht final to Mayo back in 2009," the 2007 All-Ireland MFC-winning captain says in The Irish Examiner.

"Since then unfortunately, we have always come out on the wrong side of tight games. And yes, our job is to try and change that. To be honest, we have no interest in looking backwards at the past and next Sunday is all we are focusing on.

"Mayo are a very fine team. They are a seasoned outfit that collected four or five All Stars last year and we will have to produce a top-class performance to beat them. They are coming to Pearse Stadium which is a plus for us and the U21s winning the All-Ireland final has also given us a boost.

"Some of those guys are really fine young players and watching them doing so well against Cork was great to see. The county has won two out of the last three U21 titles, so hopefully we can build on those wins.

"It stirs the pot of ambition and we know if we can get by Mayo, the season opens up and gives us a fighting shot at winning a provincial title. However, we are taking it one game at a time, and we are not looking at anything but Mayo at 4pm next Sunday." Tweet

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