All roads lead to Croker for Mayo

FLASHBACK Dublin manager Jim Gavin shakes hands with Mayo manager James Horan after the counties met in the 2013 National League at Croke Park. Pic: Sportsfile

Mike Finnerty

MAYO will be aiming to beat Dublin for the first time since August 2012 when they take on the All-Ireland champions in the National Football League at Croke Park next Saturday evening (7pm).
And James Burke — one of James Horan’s coaching team, along with Martin Barrett and Daniel Forde — says that ‘winning the game’ and giving some young players a chance to measure themselves against Dublin will be Mayo’s main priorities next weekend.
“We’re going out to win every game — FBD, league and championship,” the Ardnaree native told The Mayo News.
“We’ve seen lots of young guys so far and we want to see some more, so we’ll be planning to give more of those lads an opportunity.
“It’s going to be exciting playing Dublin at Croke Park, and it’s great to be involved in it.
“Players are going to rise to this sort of game, and the fact it’s in Croke Park, a place we love to play, will add to it too.
“You can be sure as well when Dublin were going through their fixture calendar there was a big ‘X’ marked beside the Mayo game.”
Burke confirmed that Evan Regan will be out of action for ‘two to three weeks’ after injuring his shoulder against Cavan last Saturday week.
However, Mayo have no other injury worries going into next weekend’s fourth round clash.
Cillian O’Connor, Ryan O’Donoghue and Cian Hanley will again be unavailable as they continue their rehabilitation from their respective injuries.