Former Mayo star Liam McHale believes starting Ronan McGarrity at midfield against Kerry on Sunday is a risk worth taking.

McGarrity has struggled with an Achilles injury all summer, with the O'Shea brothers, Aidan and Seamus, holding down the two midfield berths. But McHale thinks it would be wise to throw his Ballina Stephenites club colleague in from the start, thus releasing Aidan O'Shea to full forward.

"Jack O'Connor is going to look to put our full back line under pressure. On Sunday, Kerry will try to do what they did to Dublin in the 2009 quarter-final," McHale said in the Irish Sun.

"They blew them away in the first 20 minutes. Apart from a spell early on against Cork, Kerry haven't had to play all that well. They remind me of the 2009 campaign where they struggled against Longford and Sligo. Then they came to Croke Park and exploded against Dublin.

"The last day out against Limerick they scored 1-20 in third gear. They will be looking to start well, get it into Kieran Donaghy and punish us that way."

The Clare selector added: 'People will say I am biased, but I'd like to see Ronan at midfield and Aidan at full forward and see him in there for that first 15 minutes as a target man. The lads have done great at midfield and are strong, physical players, but against Cork they had five turnovers each. That would be a worry against a sharp Kerry side."

Mayo manager James Horan is due to name his team tonight. Tweet

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