'One of the toughest': Mayo boss Larkin on League defeat to Laois

Warmth was hard to find in Tooreen after Sunday's encounter.

The chill wind sent shivers across the impressive club facilities in Adrian Freeman Park as Mayo manager Ray Larkin put words on a tough day at the office for the Green and Red.

“The lads worked hard and that's all we can ask. We got a couple of nice scores in the second half and in terms of Laois, they're a serious team.

"Their quality is very obvious in terms of them being a Joe McDonagh team.”

Mayo had found themselves 29 points down at half-time and it hadn't been an easy dressing room to be in, but Larkin explained what he said to his side.

“It's just about pride and working hard. I know they're far superior, but we still have to work hard.

"Once we work hard, anything can happen. We worked hard in the second half, we made a few changes and they worked as well. You always get some positives out of the game,” he explained.

Going into the contest, Mayo were big underdogs and Larkin didn't shy away from that fact. Instead he concentrated on the job in hand for Mayo.

“This game was probably one of the toughest of the whole lot. We had to focus on ourselves. We had a nice bit of work done.

"We just have to bring that out in the field. Forget about the results and just work on stuff we want to work on. We have a couple of lads coming back. Hopefully as the weeks pass we'll be a different team.”

Touching on the number of different clubs represented and the fresh faces, the Galway native said “I think it was 11 or 12 players that wore the senior Mayo jersey for the first time today.

"We're building and we can't be relying on the Tooreen players the whole time. We'll go to London next week which will be another tough game. Then it’s Derry in the following game.

"Both were in the Christy Ring final, which is a division above us. It's tough, but that's the joys of winning Division Three last year.”