James Horan doesn't subscribe to the view that the gap between Mayo and the chasing pack in Connacht is closing.

In fact, the former Mayo manager reckons the opposite is the case.

"I know Kevin Walsh (Galway manager) mentioned that he thinks his side have been closing the gap, but I'd be the opposite. I think the gap is increasing," Horan told Newstalk ahead of tomorrow's Connacht SFC semi-final between Mayo and Galway.

"Galway have lost some very good players as well; Michael Lundy, Johnny Duane and Fiontan Ó Curraoin, the U21 All-Ireland winning captain.

"There's a couple of guys we've seen with Corofin who have a club title and they're not anywhere near the squad. There's usually a huge energy around Galway football, where they were going and what the promise was. You don't sense that anymore.

"You almost sense that the people in Galway think that if they get out of Castlebar with under a ten-point beating, six points beaten, that they'll be happy enough, which is not what Galway used to be. I think it's lost a bit of that competitiveness." 

He continued: "I think Mayo are going to be very strong, I think they're stronger than last year with the addition of a number of players. Obviously Diarmuid O'Connor has become the player that he is but you've also got Evan Regan breaking through, you've Stephen Coen who captained the U21 side.

"He's playing very good football. You've got Patrick Durcan back from Castlebar (Mitchels). These are all young progressive, very dynamic players with proven character. 

"You've got five or six new guys who appear to be very ready to jump into senior championship football. So when you add that to the experience that is already there and the age profile of the guys that are there are very, very good."

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