By Shaun Casey

ARMAGH legend Steven McDonnell doesn’t envisage his county taking their foot off the gas as they see out their final round of group stage fixtures this weekend despite having already qualified for the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

Kieran McGeeney’s men meet Galway, in a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final, at Kingspan Breffni on Saturday evening. Armagh are guaranteed top spot, but Galway are still in desperate need of points.

With Armagh having the luxury of not needing to win, there is the option of mixing up their team and focusing on their last-eight challenge, but McDonnell doesn’t think the players or management will be thinking like that.

“The first thing I would look at is the mentality of the players and the mentality of the management team. I don’t think it’s within their DNA to go and lose any game or to be complacent in any game,” said the 2002 All-Ireland winner.

“I think they will go out with the mindset to get another two points on the board and continue their winning ways. On top of that, there’s an opportunity to knock one of the All-Ireland favourites out of the competition.

“I’m pretty confident that Armagh will put out a strong team. They are going to make changes, but I believe that, looking at the changes that they’re going to make, they’re not weakening the team in any shape or form.

“Armagh will be good enough and strong enough to go and get the result and I’m sure that’s what they’ll be aiming to do.”

The likes of Joe McElroy and Aaron McKay could earn their first starts of the season while captain Aidan Forker hasn’t featured since the Ulster final. Niall Grimley and Oisin O’Neill are other players that are making their way back from injury.

“It’s like for like with any changes they do make,” McDonnell added. “They’ll possibly get Blaine (Hughes) into goals for a game as well, Tomás McCormack, who was exceptional in the league and against Antrim – these boys will value game time at the minute.

“That’s only adding strength to the squad if the likes of Niall Grimley can get 60 minutes into his legs. There’s Greg McCabe, Connaire Mackin, boys that like. The more game time you can give those players the better – you’re adding more strength and value to the squad.

“Those players aren’t weakening the team because a lot of them are starters on a consistent basis anyway so it’s not going to weaken Armagh’s cause, it might strengthen it because those boys will want to put their hand up for an All-Ireland quarter-final.”

Armagh and Galway have built up quite a strong rivalry in the last few years, dating back to that classic Croke Park encounter in 2022 when the Tribesmen saw off Armagh via a penalty shootout to reach the All-Ireland semi-finals.

Armagh gained revenge in the All-Ireland round robin series in 2023, winning by the minimum of margins, while the sides couldn’t be separated at the exact same stage of the competition last year.

Of course, Armagh gained the upper hand when it mattered most last July and they defeated Padraic Joyce’s team on the biggest stage of all, in the All-Ireland final. Again, it was just one point that separated the two teams after 70-plus minutes of action.

“Galway and Armagh, over the last three seasons, have become one of the big rivalries in Gaelic football. Armagh have the upper hand but there’s never much between the sides and I can’t see Saturday being any different,” continued the Killeavy clubman.

“Galway have been picking up a few injuries themselves and we’ll see whether or not the likes of (Damien) Comer plays this weekend, they don’t seem to be able to cope without key players the same way Armagh can.

“That seems to be a stumbling block for this Galway team, but they still have so much quality across the pitch. Shane Walsh, Cillian McDaid, Céin D’Arcy, John Maher, I think they have some of the best players in the country at the minute.

“They need those players firing at all cylinders and it was only really when Padraic Joyce took off the likes of Shane Walsh that they started to come back at Derry the last day so there’s weaknesses in their team.

“There will be opportunities for Armagh to go at them. If Galway come out the right side of this result, they’ll gain momentum and confidence from that and they’re a big team in the reckoning for SAM.

“From Armagh’s point of view, you want to get those teams out of the running now and Armagh have an opportunity, depending on Derry, to do that. I would be adamant to get rid of them now before they do gain any type of momentum.”