Cillian O'Connor, Tommy Conroy on bench as Kevin McStay names Mayo team

Kevin McStay has made one change to his league final winning side for Mayo's championship opener against Roscommon in Castlebar, with all-time championship top scorer Cillian O'Connor named on the subs bench.

Castlebar Mitchel's Donnacha McHugh is named at corner back, replacing Sam Callinan in the only change to the team that defeated Galway 0-14 to 0-11 in last Sunday's Division 1 decider.

McStay has stuck with the same inside forward line, with James Carr retaining his place at full-forward, with chief free-taker Ryan O'Donoghue and a rejuvenated Aidan O'Shea named either side of him.

O'Connor, the all-time top scorer in championship football since 2020, has been named as a sub, with Tommy Conroy, who made an eye-catching cameo on Sunday, also kept in reserve.

Meanwhile, Roscommon manager Davy Burke named his starting XV on Thursday evening, with two changes to the side which demolished Donegal in their last league outing.

Conor Daly slots in at full-back as part of a rejig to cover for Tadhg O'Rourke, who will miss the remainder of the season due an achilles injury suffered in the victory over Donegal.

Brian Stack has been named at wing-back, with Dylan Ruane moved into O'Rourke's midfield berth as a result.

In the attack, Ciarán Lennon comes in to replace Niall Kilroy at wing-forward.

Roscommon, who survived in Division 1 for the first time since 2016, claimed a historic victory in their last championship game against Mayo in MacHale Park back in 2019, their first for 33 years. Coincidentally, that also arrived in the wake of Mayo's league win.

The winners on Sunday progress to face Galway in the Connacht semi-final.

Mayo: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, David McBrien, Donnacha McHugh; Stephen Coen, Conor Loftus, Paddy Durcan;