O'Connor embracing 'privilege' of another tough summer

It may be a stretch too far to prove his fitness for Sunday's Division 1 Allianz Football League final at Croke Park, but Mayo’s record scorer Cillian O’Connor is desperately hoping to get the green light to face Galway.

The 30-year-old started just one league game as Kevin McStay’s side finished unbeaten and top of the table.

With fresh faces emerging as first-team options, and the buzz of new management in place, Mayo appear to be in a good place ahead of the latest quest to land Sam Maguire, which begins Sunday week against Roscommon.

O’Connor, the highest scorer in the history of the All-Ireland championship, has had his fair share of injury woes over the last couple of years.

The latest, a bang to the back of his knee, is well down the list of serious setbacks, though McStay intimated at the weekend that O'Connor would most likely not bee seen until the Roscommon game at least. The player himself is more optimistic.

"I’m still hoping for this weekend. I’m trying to push for inclusion but it might just be too tight," he said, speaking ahead of the Allianz Division 1 decider.

The last few years have been challenging to say the least.

Knee surgery in 2018 saw him sidelined for more than six months while an Achilles injury ruled him of the 2021 championship. O’Connor started all four games in James Horan’s last championship in charge, but admits he was never 100%, missing chunks of training to give himself any chance of playing in a forward line shorn of Ryan O'Donoghue and Tommy Conroy.

With Conroy’s return, Aidan O’Shea’s blossoming role up front and the likes of Jordan Flynn and James Carr making greater contributions to the scoreboard, O’Connor is keen to remind McStay of what he brings to the table.

"It’s been different