Mayo defender Keith Higgins is adamant that they need to give Westmeath the respect they deserve in Saturday's All-Ireland SFC qualifier at Croke Park.

The Connacht side have got their campaign back on track in the qualifiers and they face their second Leinster opposition in a row through the back door, having defeated Kildare in the last round.

Westmeath reached their second consecutive provincial decider this year where they were once again comfortably beaten by Dublin.

Their league form suggests that this weekend's clash could be a one-sided affair too, but Higgins is not getting carried away.

"I don't think their league results in the last few years have been a fair reflection on how good they've been," Higgins told the Western People.

"They've been relegated for the last few years but if you look at them in the championship, they're always a team capable of a performance.

"I've only seen bits and pieces of them this year, being quite honest. They have a few quality players sprinkled all over the place. In that first half against Dublin, they really put it up to them. They'll do the same thing to us and I don't think we can afford to take any team for granted at this stage."

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