Leitrim captain Gary Reynolds is frustrated by the championship structure.

Having been hammered by Roscommon in the Connacht SFC last weekend, Leitrim won't have another competitive game until the Qualifiers start next month. This at the time of year when every team wants to be playing...

"You hear about the great players from Dublin and Tyrone and all of those counties and you hear about the number of hampionship games they've played and you realise you've been playing the same length of time as them except you've probably one fifth of the championship appearances that they've racked up," he told RTE.

"You put all your eggs in the one basket for the Connacht Championship game, you get beaten and then you've a six-week wait. It's very hard for a county like ourselves, who are trying to get young lads going in the right direction, when they realise that they're not getting the same string of games other counties there's not that bounce there to lift the panel.

"You have seven league games and then there's a massive, massive hold up. It's disappointing and it's tough. These are young boys, playing at a massive level playing Sigerson Cup, we have a few lads with DCU, and then they're coming to us and having games in the league.

"Then comescChampionship, with that intensity, a massive, massive day, but if you're only getting that once or twice a year, you're not exposed to it often enough and they find it hard to perform at the highest level.

"I found, the only way you improve is games, games, games, I play my club football in Dublin now and I feel that I'm every bit as good as anyone else. We're made the same way, we play the same way and as an old manager of ours, Dessie Dolan, used to tell us 'we eat the same spuds as everyone else'."

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