Defence is key for Galway to match Armagh - Whelan

Galway are well-equipped to compete with Armagh in Sunday's All-Ireland quarter-final, however, they will need to have a rock-solid defence in place to cope with the attacking threat of Kieran McGeeney’s side.

That’s the opinion of former Dublin midfielder, Ciaran Whelan, who is expecting a high-scoring and fascinating Croke Park encounter between the Connacht champions and the Ulster side.

Armagh fell at the first hurdle in the provincial championship, losing out to Donegal in the quarter-finals, however, the Orchard County have built up momentum throughout the qualifiers and go into the game as slight favourites despite missing several players through injury.

McGeeney’s side beat last year’s champions, Tyrone, in the first qualifier round before exacting revenge on the aforementioned Tir Chonaill to secure their place in the last eight.

Galway beat Mayo, Leitrim and Roscommon en route to the provincial title, however, Pádraic Joyce’s men have not played in a month, compared to Armagh, who have already played two championship matches in June.

Speaking on this week’s RTE GAA Podcast, Whelan believes that Armagh’s explosive attacking unit will cause Galway serious problems if they opt for a man-to-man approach.

"If Galway go down the route of a shoot-out, they'll get their arses handed to them," said Whelan.

"If they go man-to-man defensively, they can get badly exposed, and they have learned that the hard way in recent years, particularly against Mayo.

"And you have to give Joyce and the management team credit for identifying that they had to get themselves right at the back against Mayo to cut out that running game.

"Similarly, they have to approach Armagh in a similar vein, as Armagh will mix it up going forward, and the