Billy Joe Padden feels that Mayo have learned how to cope with the threat of Stephen Cluxton.

The Connacht champions didn't allow the Dublin goalkeeper to dictate proceedings with his deadly distribution at Croke Park last Saturday night and the All-Ireland winning captain was eventually sent off for petulantly kicking out at Kevin McLoughlin.

Even though Mayo left a point behind them as the 14-man Dubs fought back at the end to earn a draw, former Mayo and Armagh footballer Padden thinks it was a worthwhile exercise:

"The result was very disappointing considering they were in such a good winning position," he says in The Irish Independent. "They definitely won't be happy with the six or seven minutes at the end of the game but, up to that point, a lot of their players had played really well.

"They showed that they learned something from the All-Ireland final in that they took a different approach to Stephen Cluxton's kick-outs.

"They really put him under pressure - I think it was some of that pressure he was under that maybe caused him to lash out in frustration.

"I think that's a good lesson for Mayo if they have to face Dublin later on in the championship. You really have to take Cluxton out of his comfort zone because his kick-outs are such an important part of the Dublin game plan.

"I didn't think Mayo would respond as well as they have done after the All-Ireland, so that's a positive. On the other hand, the last six minutes were so disappointing the last day against Dublin because they weren't able to close out the game.

"Hopefully that doesn't have a negative impact in the next few weeks, because it's important that they get a few more games under their belt.

"It would be great to beat Derry and get into the next round. You never know, they could get another shot at Dublin if they qualify for the semi-finals of the league." Tweet

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