Chris Barrett reckons Mayo have an even stronger panel this year than they had in 2012 and '13.

The four-in-a-row Connacht SFC winners have suffered agonising All-Ireland final defeats to Donegal and Dublin in the last two years and return to the All-Ireland stage this weekend when facing Cork in the second of Sunday's quarter-finals at Croke Park.

Twenty-seven-year-old defender Barrett believes James Horan's men are in good stead as the season gets down to its business end:

"I think our panel is stronger," the Belmullet clubman says in The Irish Independent. "A lot has been made of our league form but I think we built a seriously strong panel. You look at the guys who didn't make the 26 in the Connacht final, you have 10 lads outside the 26 and that really shows the strength of the panel.

"I think in terms of strength in the panel we have definitely come on since last year and the disappointment of last year drives us on.

"Winning four Connacht titles is a great achievement, four-in-a-row in any code in any sport, it's a massive achievement but we have bigger things on our mind." Tweet

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