Mayo boss Stephen Rochford says his side cannot afford to take London for granted this weekend.

The Westerners kick off their Connacht SFC title defence on Sunday at Ruislip, where they'll be without key players like Diarmuid O'Connor and Chris Barrett, and Rochford says they'll be wary of the Exiles following Roscommon's close call against New York in the opening round of the province.

"People that aren't invested within the group may have a different agenda for the weekend in London, it might be a social thing with the game thrown in. That's not what this group is about," Rochford told the Irish Examiner.  

"A lot of this group have played in London before, they understand the 2011 match, and they will see what New York brought to the table against Roscommon.

"What we need to be very mindful about is that New York didn't play a game for 12 months.

"London played seven rounds of the National League, they're a lot more developed group, I'm aware that they'll have played three top quality challenge games by the time we've played them.

"Knowing those facts alone offers you a sense of reality that this isn't anything other than a serious fixture for us.

"We need to respect that and deliver a performance that's respectful of that. Plain and simple."

Ger Cafferkey and Barry Moran are also rated as "doubtful" for the Connacht champions, while Seamus O'Shea, Andy Moran, and Tom Parsons are all racing to be fit for Sunday.

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