Gary O'Donnell optimistic but warns Galway 'have nothing won yet'

Former Galway defender Gary O'Donnell is confident his old-team-mates won't have gotten carried away from knocking holders Dublin out as they prepare for an All-Ireland SFC semi-final.

Mayo dethroned the then six-in-a-row champions in the semis in 2021 but went on to lose the final against Tyrone. Despite a superb quarter-final win over the champions, Galway are only into the last four, where they face Donegal on Sunday (Live on RTÉ2/RTÉ Player).

"It can be a different prospect mentally where you take out a big gun like that and you're still a game or two games away from the prize," the 2016 Connacht-winning captain told RTÉ Sport.

"Galway celebrated that victory and rightly so. But you can be sure, come Tuesday or Wednesday of that week, it was parked and the whole focus is on the All-Ireland semi-final. They've nothing won yet and I'm sure that will be the ethos of it.

"I'd say a lot of people will say that it's a 50-50 game. I gave Galway a great chance going into the Dublin game. I was fairly confident that it would go down the home straight, which it did. It'll be the same thing on Sunday.

"Galway are very structured in defence and attack. Donegal are organised at the back but hit you on the counter. They've a lot of legs, a lot of runners, a lot of pace.

"I expect both teams to put on a good show. I think it will be somewhat high-scoring based on what you've seen off previous games, and a bit of an arm wrestle up to the last quarter where one team will probably push on ahead of the other, and see it home. Hopefully, that'll be Galway."

Galway have been plagued with injuries this season, with key men Shane Walsh and Seán Kelly both doubts this weekend after going off injured against Dublin.

They flirted with relegation in