Keith Higgins is looking forward to Mayo's Connacht SFC semi-final against Galway in Pearse Stadium next Sunday.

Despite the intense rivalry that exists between the neighbouring counties, the Mayo captain insists it isn't bitter.

"When the draw comes out and you're drawn against Galway, it always gets the fires going, but it's never really boiled over into anything too malicious. It's a rivalry that gets you pumped, but it's never too dirty at the same time," Higgins said in the Western People.

"From the Galway point of view, they probably couldn't take a huge amount from the New York game, so the Leitrim game is the only game they can look back on to see how they're setting up.

"At the same time, we've had a lot of time to focus on ourselves. We couldn't really do anything else for the last 10 weeks."

Mayo are widely expected to complete a five-in-a-row of Connacht titles this summer, but Higgins isn't looking beyond this weekend's game.

"There would have been a small bit of talk about it, but quite honestly not an awful lot. Like I said, when the draw was made and you have Galway in the first round, the only focus is on getting out of Salthill with a win," the Ballyhaunis man added.

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