Donal McElligott doesn't believe there is any extra pressure on Longford ahead of their Leinster SFC opener against Laois next Sunday.

Many people are expecting Glenn Ryan's charges to cause the first shock of the championship after a superb Allianz League campaign
which culminated in them lifting the Division 3 title. But St. Columba's attacker McElligott has played down the growing expectations in the O'Farrell County.

"If you asked the majority of people I think Laois would certainly still be favourites for the game - even though the game's at home for us," he said in The Irish Daily Star.

"They were playing Division 1 football (this spring). I don't think there's any extra pressure on us as such. We have to go out and perform, certainly to the level, if not more, than what we were playing at this year.

"Nothing has necessarily changed from that point of view, and if we can match their intensity from the first whistle there's no reason there will be anything in it. It was one thing at the start of the year. We did want to make Pearse Park something of a fortress because we knew when the fixtures came out initially that we were going to have Laois at home.

"We wanted to make sure that we were getting wins out of all our home games and thankfully we did that. It's given up a nice platform, but championship is a completely different thing. Once the ball is thrown in, you might forget what pitch you are playing in, and certainly it won't be a big obstacle for Laois." Tweet

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