Former Mayo captain Noel Connelly believes the formation of a midfield partnership which can hold its own on the summer championship stage is the most important objective of the forthcoming NFL campaign.

Mayo welcome arch-rivals Galway to McHale Park, Castlebar on Sunday for the first round of the Division One campaign.

With the retirement of David Heaney, manager John O'Mahony must settle on a preferred centrefield duo over the coming weeks.

Connelly told the Mayo News: "Coming away from the Galway game next Sunday, I'd like to see signs that Mayo are working on getting a structure around the middle of the field.

"It's vital that we get a settled partnership that can win 50/50 ball, will be aggressive, strong and compete for everything. Personally, I'd try guys like Barry Moran, Tom Parsons and Seamus O'Shea there and try and find a really good partnership. But we need to find a partnership that works and stick with it."

Seamus O'Shea and Tom Parsons started in tandem in the FBD League semi-final win over Roscommon last weekend, with Ronan McGarrity - who partnered Heaney against Meath in last summer's All-Ireland quarter-final defeat - introduced as a second half substitute.

Pat Harte could miss the first four games of the NFL due to work commitments while Barry Moran could sit out the opening games against Galway and Tyrone with an ankle injury. Tweet

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