Cillian O'Connor certainly doesn't think Mayo have any psychological problem playing at Headquarters!

The Connacht champions have lost a number of high-profile matches in Dublin 3 - including the last two All-Ireland finals - but O'Connor insists the venue suits them.

"Some of the final losses in Croker here in the last couple of years have been highlighted, but we've won an awful lot of games in Croke Park as well," the Ballintubber ace told The Irish Independent ahead of Sunday's league semi-final meeting with Derry.

"If you look back, some of our best performances have been in Croke Park. We like playing here and we look forward to playing here. The way we play, especially the half-forward and half-back lines, it suits an awful lot of our players with the open spaces and the high tempo the boys play at.

"It was very hard for us after last year. It was awful disappointing. But we regrouped and we knew we had a good squad. The attitude of the lads was brilliant, there was no hangovers or hang-ups. Everyone just got back into it.

"We reminded ourselves that we love doing it. After a couple of shaky performances in the league we got a pep back in our step. We're back in the swing of it now.

"We have a good squad, good age profile and a good strength and conditioning programme that we have done for three or four years. The drive is still there within the squad. We need to keep injury-free and strive for consistency across the full 70 minutes and we will be in the shake-up." Tweet

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