Stephen Rochford was full of praise for Diarmuid O'Connor after he hit 1-5 for Mayo in their nine-point victory over Kildare this evening.
The reigning Young Player of the Year received a standing ovation following his late substitution as the Westerners moved within 70 minutes of another All-Ireland SFC quarter-final appearance.
"It was great to have Diarmuid back. He played his first game since the National League for us last week. Hopefully that form will keep going the right way," the Mayo manager said in an interview with RTE.
Commenting on Mayo's performance, Rochford said: "I thought it was patchy at times, but that's the essence of the qualifiers. You're up and down. You're looking to build your confidence. We looked a good team at times and at time [it was clear] we still have stuff to work on."
With Tom Parsons on the comeback trail, Rochford expects Mayo to be at full strength for their All-Ireland SFC Round 4 qualifier against either the Leinster or Ulster final runners-up.
"Tom hopefully will return to some training during the week and hopefully we'll be selecting from a full panel," he added.
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