Mayo ace Cillian O'Connor doesn't see himself as an 'indentured slave'.

The All-Star forward says it's his choice to devote so much time to the game he loves but he does concede that sacrifices have to be made.

"At the end of the day you have to remember it's by choice, there's thousands of players who'd love to be in our place," he remarked to The Irish Independent.

"But I do agree with a lot what's been said. It's getting harder to balance your college or work life with football. Andy Moran is the only one on the Mayo panel with a child."

O'Connor is supportive of recent efforts aimed at condensing the fixture list into the calendar year.

"Planning pretty much anything is impossible. I know one or two players who got married on New Year's Eve just because it was the only time they could be sure there'd be no clashes.

"It just doesn't make sense to me to continue the club championship into the next year. I don't know of any other sport that goes 14 months in a row, even professional ones."

The UUJ student is looking forward to making up for the disappointment of last year's All-Ireland SFC semi-final replay defeat to eventual champions Kerry.

"When you lose it's no consolation to hear it was this great spectacle or epic. I'd happily go through every championship in future winning dull games."

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