LEE KEEGAN has urged Mayo to stay focused on the bigger picture, rather than trying to be perfect against Dublin on Sunday.
Already assured of a place in the SFC knockout stages, Kevin McStay’s side will avoid the preliminary quarter-finals if they can defeat the Irish champions at Dr Hyde Park in two days’ time.
But after the condensed schedule took its toll in last year’s quarter-final loss to the Dubs, Keegan believes Mayo must proceed with caution.
A costly mistake in the group stage against Cork in 2023 forced McStay’s men to detour to Salthill, where they had to dig deep to beat Galway.
Seven days later, after being just one point behind Dublin at half-time, Mayo were finally beaten 2-17 to 0-11 when they ran out of gas in the second half of their third match in as many weekends.
Speaking to SunSport, Mayo legend Keegan said: “Should they try really hard on Sunday, only to come up short after putting in a great performance?
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And then they have to go out and play again the following week and you wonder if they learned anything from last year.
“Or will they change things up and rest the injured players, try some position changes and maybe go from there?
“It’s a free kick in some ways.
“I’m not saying this in any condescending way, but for Mayo there is a bigger picture to the whole thing.
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“Because, based on what we’ve seen so far, Dublin should be supported.
“Mayo can attack them in some aspects, but I don’t think they can afford to burn the candle too much if they are going to play three weekends in a row.
“In the second half against Dublin last year, we saw what happens when fatigue hits you against a high-octane team.”
After both teams beat Cavan and Roscommon, the winner of Sunday’s meeting between Mayo and Dublin will progress directly to the quarter-finals of Sam Maguire’s run as Group 2 winner.
Crucially, that reward is accompanied by a two-week break.
Thanks to their superior goal difference, a draw will also be enough for Dessie Farrell’s Sky Blues.
But there is no rest for the losers, who will have to be content with home field advantage in next weekend’s preliminary quarterfinals.
Keegan said: “If Kevin fields his strongest team, I wouldn’t for a minute suggest they take their foot off the gas.
“I think in that case they will go to Dublin.
“It just depends on how much energy they are willing to expend before moving on to the preliminary quarterfinals.
“That would be my biggest concern.
“If they go out and beat Dublin and get an extra week off before the quarter-final, obviously that would be brilliant.
“But you’re almost robbing Peter to pay Paul because you could run the risk of trying, not getting the result and then fatigue kicks in and you could get injuries to key players as well.”
While he insists Mayo must cut the cloth accordingly as they try to play the long game, five-time All-Star Keegan believes green flags will be essential if the Connacht team are to cause an upset this weekend.
He said: “Dublin have scored 15 goals in the Championship and Mayo have only scored five.
“Obviously you have to take into account the opponent and the style of play.
“But increasing that goal threat would be huge.
“If you look at the All-Ireland finals we played in, we often scored more points than the opposition, but it was the goals that killed us.
“I would love to see Mayo hit the onion bag a couple of times.
“And then the important thing will be to see if they free themselves a little more from the shackles than they have done so far.
“What we’ve seen in Mayo is a really structured type of attack.
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“Kevin has his own style and he’s obviously happy with that.
“But because this is a free kick in some respects, maybe it’s an opportunity to break free from the shackles and go to Dublin.”
