Galway star Joe Canning says other teams will be looking to bring them back "down to earth" this summer.

The Tribesmen open their All-Ireland SHC title defence against Offaly this Saturday evening in Tullamore and their Portumna ace knows that a few more Liam McCarthy Cups will need to be added by this Galway group if they are to be considered a great team.

"It's a blank slate to be straight up about it," Canning is quoted saying by The Irish Times. "Maybe if I had won two or three, but I've only won one, so there's that expectation and you get that kind of feeling that you've only won one. You need to win a couple to be considered a better team. 

"Like, obviously you have that extra pressure, that target on your back that you're All-Ireland champions, and people will want to bring you back down to earth in a way. For sure, people say we were playing catch-up in the league, but realistically the league wasn't a priority last year either but we ended up winning it. It wasn't a priority this year, but we would have taken it if we progressed. 

"At the end of the day championship is your number one, and when we heard the draw Offaly was our main target, simple as that. Offaly was our biggest target from the start of the year and that's what the group have prepared for."

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