Mayo to face old rivals Galway in preliminary GAA quarterfinal

Mayo have been drawn against Galway in the preliminary quarterfinal of the All-Ireland SFC next weekend at Pearse Stadium, Salthill.

The game, which is expected to be a sell-out, will be played on Sunday at 3 pm. and will be screened live on RTE One.

It represents a huge challenge for manager Kevin McStay and his charges following a sudden loss of form after the memorable win over Kerry in their opening group one match in Killarney.

The side's loss to Cork in Limerick yesterday prompted former Mayo ace Lee Keegan to state: "I would knock talk of Mayo and an All-Ireland (title). I don't think teams are necessarily going to be afraid to them (now)."

However, Galway have their own problems after losing to Armagh and star attacker Sean Kelly faces a battle against time to be fit while the influential Damien Comer sat out yesterday's encounter due to injury.

Former Kerry manager Eamon Fitzmaurice said the attractive encounter underlines the fact that the football championship is now entering its serious phase of knock-out games.

In the other fixtures, Kildare entertain Monaghan, Cork host Roscommon while Tyrone travel to take on Donegal.

It's going to some week of football action.

Analysing Mayo's shortcoming against Cork yesterday on The Sunday Game, former Dublin ace Paul Flynn said: "We've known for a while now that Mayo have been struggling against a set defence.

"They have not got time to figure this out. It'll be concerning for McStay. He's got a bit of work to do."