NEWS ROUND-UP: Mayo football manager Pat Holmes has hinted his team may be slightly under-prepared as they start the defence of their Allianz National League title. Nor is he particularly confident about Sunday's opening game against Sligo, who also had an extended run in the league last year before falling to Galway in the semi-final.
"Well, we took a bit of a chance in that we didn't start back until January," said Holmes yesterday. "It's not that we're putting less emphasis on the league, but we've only had four weeks of training now so I feel the panel mightn't be as fit at this stage as they were when they started out last year.
"But the big difference this year is that the league is being run over 12 weeks. In the past you would nearly be thinking about the league in September and that meant you would be back training together a lot earlier."
Holmes, however, is convinced that the new condensed formula is an improvement.
"No doubt about it, this is a better format. Before you would be out from October to December, and then back into it again in February. But you only ended up playing seven games over the seven months, which was hardly ideal."
As for Sunday's opposition, Holmes is not hiding his concern.
"I think everyone knows Sligo are one of the teams in top form at the moment. They've beaten Roscommon and Galway as well as us in the Connacht league, and they did it in some style.
"But I know this Sligo team has been very settled now for the past couple of years. There is still a perception out there that Sligo are one of the weaker counties, but they proved themselves in the league and the championship last year and we know we have a real battle on our hands on Sunday.
"I definitely would have preferred to have had a few games behind us before we met them, but we'll tough it up and do our best anyway."
With most of his panel dispersed around the county or pocketed in places like Dublin, Sligo, Athlone and Galway, it is likely to be Saturday morning before Holmes finalises his team for Markievicz Park. Holmes is also awaiting news on some players involved in the Sigerson Cup this week, as well as a couple of others suffering from flu.
Mayo's success last year - their first since 1970 - was built on a near-flawless run through Division 1B, including significant wins over Derry, Meath and Fermanagh and, incidentally, a draw with Sligo. They eliminated Roscommon in the all-Connacht semi-finals before upsetting Galway by a point in the final.
Last week they had some warm-weather training on a team holiday in the Canaries, and arrived home in time for a largely forgettable Connacht league win over a poor Leitrim side.
Sligo are expected to name their team this evening. Having reached the Connacht league final for the first time, manager Peter Ford now has injury worries over midfielder Paul Durcan and forward Gerry McGowan. Goalkeeper James Curran is also in doubt after injuring his hand in a recent under-21 match.
