Pat Holmes has his own theory on the how the burden of defeat can affect a team as they roll back into the championship qualifiers. So far there's been a fine line between teams that can arise and go again and those whose heads stay low under the weight of failed expectations.

For the Mayo manager, the closer the loss, the greater the setback. And the greater the setback, the more reason to get back playing. Holmes may still be a little stunned by the nature of his side's late, late defeat to Roscommon in the Connacht final at the start of the month but there's no hiding his enthusiasm now for another game.

"Losing that Connacht title was obviously a huge disappointment because that had been one of our main aims this year," he says. "And it was all the more disappointing in the way we lost. We know now that it was a lack of concentration right when it mattered most.

"So to come so close and lose, well I believe that makes it more disappointing than if you are well beaten. We had the winning of the game and then it all went wrong in the last 30 seconds. But we have looked at the positive side and this is another chance that we wouldn't have had before."

And so Mayo head back to Hyde Park this Saturday - the scene of the one-point loss to Roscommon - having been drawn against Westmeath in the first of a quartet of fourth-round qualifiers.

People were quick to wonder how Galway would react to meeting Cork, or Dublin meeting Sligo, but how about Mayo meeting Westmeath?

"Well my first reaction was no reaction. At this stage of the championship, it doesn't matter who you get because it's going to be a battle. It's hard to pick out any team and say they would be easier than someone else. Every game from here on is going to be difficult.

"But we've done our best to put that defeat behind us. And it's great to get back and get that second chance.

"This is a game that we wouldn't have had in the past so we are being very positive about it. The level of enthusiasm is still very high and this is a chance that we are looking forward to."

The two counties have cut a different path to this stage. After the narrow loss to Meath in their first game in the Leinster championship, Westmeath took a while to find their feet again but then hit something near top-speed in the third-round win over Louth. In contrast, Mayo have yet to test the form since that loss to Roscommon.

They have been back training for over a fortnight and the heads seem to be refocused but Holmes is still hesitant to make too many predictions: "Well I think it's one of those situations where you don't really know what is going to happen until the players go out onto the pitch.

"The motivation is still there and the enthusiasm is still there and hopefully we can play to our best again. Everyone is back in a positive frame of mind but we know it will be a tough game. We just have to see what happens but I think if we can play to our full potential we can do well."

Another novelty of the qualifier route is the clash of counties that usually cross championship paths about once every hundred years. Mayo and Westmeath fall straight into that category.

"As far as I know you have to go a long way back to find the last competitive game between Mayo and Westmeath.

" I think it's fair to say that we know very little about them and they know very little about us. All we've seen of them this year anyway has been on television."

But Holmes has been viewing those video tapes quite closely this week. On the day they won the league title, Westmeath upset Cork to take the Division Two final.

A win for Westmeath on Saturday would be viewed as a similar break in the form guide.

And while injuries to the likes of Marty McNicholas and Fergal Costello are also a concern for Holmes, there was better news late last week when defender Ray Connelly was cleared of the red-card incident in the Connacht final. One more win then and they are back at the same stage as their conquerors.