3 talking points ahead of Mayo v Down

PUTTING THEIR HEADS TOGETHER Mayo manager James Horan is pictured with selector Martin Barrett. There are some big calls to be made before the team is picked for Saturday’s clash with Down. Pic: Sportsfile

Mike Finnerty

1 Who will replace Matthew Ruane?
THE news that the Breaffy midfielder looks set to be out of action for up to three months with a broken collar-bone leaves James Horan with a conundrum ahead of the trip to Down.
Ruane had been in flying form, starting Mayo’s last eight games in a row after making his league debut off the bench against Tyrone back in February.
With Seamie O’Shea and Tom Parsons still in rehab mode, Horan needs to find a replacement for Ruane and a partner for Aidan O’Shea.
Diarmuid O’Connor looks the obvious ‘like-for-like’ replacement for Ruane, but Stephen Coen could also be in the manager’s thoughts for Newry.

2 Who will start in goal?
THIS has been the ‘hot topic’ among Mayo supporters and many observers since the defeat to Roscommon.
Since David Clarke got injured against Monaghan in the league almost three months ago, Rob Hennelly has started Mayo’s last three matches.
However, Hennelly’s display against Roscommon means that he has come under quite a bit of scrutiny, especially given his short kick-out that led directly to their second goal.
He also missed three long-range place-kicks so it will be interesting to see if James Horan decides to keep faith or revert to the two-time All Star David Clarke.
The squad’s third-choice ‘keeper, MicheΡl Schlingermann, was released to play with the Mayo Juniors last Sunday.

3 Will many Mayo supporters travel?
IT would seem that quite a few of them won’t be making the trip to Newry next Saturday after it was confirmed that the match starts at 7pm.
The County Board expressed their ‘surprise and disappointment’ at the throw-in time last week, and confirmed that they had requested a 3pm start.
But Croke Park’s fixture-makers have made their decision and it’s not going to suit everybody to make the 8-hour round trip from Mayo to Newry at that time of day/night.
There is also a sense that Mayo should be winning this game, so a certain number of fans will be keeping their powder dry for the following weekend.
Let’s hope they’re right!