When it comes to the physical stakes, Mayo are setting the standard according to Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice.

The Kingdom will take on the Connacht champions in Sunday's All-Ireland SFC semi-final and Fitzmaurice knows nothing less than their very best will suffice.

"Mayo are a way more physical. That has been the hallmark of James Horan since he came in," he opined to the Irish Independent.

"In terms of their conditioning, they are probably the premier team in the country. Dublin are obviously at a serious level as well.

"But Mayo took it there first and other teams had to react. We certainly had to in Kerry.

"There is a ferocious togetherness in the group. They showed a lot of character against Roscommon and that was a game that they could have easily folded up the tent, gone home and been beaten in.

"But they showed a lot of character to come back and win that game.

"They have a lot of the hallmark of champions about them and have been very, very close the last couple of years.

"In neither game did they get any breaks that you need to win an All-Ireland final, particularly a tight All-Ireland final.

"So they are a serious, serious group. They have an edge about them and if we are going to beat them, we will have to be at our best."

Fitzmaurice ruled out a Lazarus-like comeback for cruciate ligament victim Colm Cooper in this year's championship.

"Colm been back in with us since we've been training in Killarney from April.

"He's been getting his rehab
work done, he's been part of the group and it's good for him because that rehab work can be very lonely if you're doing it on your own.

"He's a presence in our team meetings and if he has a point to make he'll make it. He's still a very important part to the group.

"He's enjoying it. Obviously he's finding the game days difficult because he wants to be playing."
Cooper is ahead of schedule since his injury in February but still won't play again until 2015, despite the obvious progress they see every night.

"Some nights you'd be looking at him in the stadium and he's kicking and running in straight line and he's hopping on trampolines.

"He's doing everything and you'd be saying 'it looks like there's 10 minutes in him'. But I'm afraid not."

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