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"People often said Mayo are soft - we've changed that!"

Aidan O'Shea has been one of the standout players in this year's Championship, yet the 1m93 midfi...
Newstalk
Newstalk

10.04 18 Sep 2013


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"People often said May...

"People often said Mayo are soft - we've changed that!"

Newstalk
Newstalk

10.04 18 Sep 2013


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Aidan O'Shea has been one of the standout players in this year's Championship, yet the 1m93 midfielder was somehow turned away at the door of well-known Dublin nightspot Everleigh Gardens after the victory over Donegal.

The Mayo star has probably recovered from that disappointment much more quickly than he has gotten over last year's All Ireland final defeat.

But Ger still had to make sure that O'Shea was not suffering traumatic flashbacks of the Everleigh Gardens doorway in the lead up to Sunday's All Ireland final against Dublin.

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He is under no illusions at the task that awaits Mayo on Sunday with both sides tightly matched.

"We know that come the All Ireland final we're going to have to play for 72 or 73 minutes if we want to beat Dublin. We saw Dublin against Kerry and they were exceptional. It's going to be a wide open game with two teams that like to play football. We've come good since the Championship started but Dublin have been the form team throughout and Dublin will probably shade it," he told Ger.

But there are lessons to be learned from the 2012 final which is something O'Shea wants to put right.

"From a personal point of view I didn't touch the ball in the first 11 minutes and we were already down on Donegal. That's something that jumps off the sheet. We just didn't turn up in the first 10 minutes. We were caught up with a few things and maybe the occasion. All of sudden were 15 minutes in and we're down by seven to eight points," he said.

But O'Shea wants to refute a couple of misconceptions about Mayo, especially concerning the record on the hallowed turf of Croke Park.

"People have always said Mayo are soft, that we tend to play nice football and we'd get to Croke Park and lose. Probably ourselves and Dublin have had the best record at Croke Park over the last couple of years. People say we don't perform well in Croke Park but look at the facts. There was that perception but I think we've changed that."

O'Shea also highlighted other positive changes that have been made in Mayo.

"We've got Donie Buckley in as trainer and Ruth Kilcawley as dietician. From a squad point of view, last year we were picking from 20 guys. Now we're picking from the 26. Anybody that's in the matchday 26 has a chance of playing so we've got guys pushing all over the place. Those kind of things have happened to push us on a bit."

Listen to Ger's interview with Aidan below or download the podcast on iTunes:

 

 ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy


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