Mayo manager James Horan is in upbeat mood ahead of next Sunday's trip to Newbridge, despite being short over a dozen players due to club commitments and injury.

Horan sees the Allianz League opener against Kildare as an opportunity for others to stake a claim in his team.

"You've the Castlebar lads, obviously, but as well as them you've Seamie O'Shea and Chris Barrett out, you've Donie Vaughan out, Kenneth O'Malley is out, Alan Dillon is out, Conor Loftus is out. Cillian O'Connor is out, Conor O'Shea too… so we've quite a list, probably 13 or 14 players unavailable for one reason or another," he told the Western People.

"But that's a huge incentive for other guys to stake a claim.

"We're very excited this year with some of the new guys that have come in. We've Diarmuid O'Connor, Adam Gallagher, Stephen Coen, Conor Loftus in with us, really top-level players.

"We've Shane McHale, who really stood up on the FBD, Brendan Harrison and David Drake has come in and really shown a great appetite for improvement and development at this level. That's a lot of guys that have come into the mix, and that's essential for this team to keep evolving.

"Then we have the Castlebar lads to come in and we've Mikie Sweeney to come back after Kiltane's success." Tweet

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