Burke: ‘Complacency won’t be a factor’
All-Ireland SFC (Group 3): Roscommon v Sligo on Sunday in Dr Hyde Park at 3pm
The roles are reversed for Roscommon next Sunday as they go from outsiders to hot favourites against their Connacht rivals.
While the hosts will be expected to win this match without any difficulty, they will need to guard against complacency to take the two points on offer.
The one worry about this game from a Roscommon point of view is that last Sunday’s draw with Dublin was tough on body and mind and management and players have a big task this week to reset and refocus.
Speaking to People Sport earlier this week, Roscommon manager Davy Burke said complacency won’t be allowed to creep into the camp.
“We have a lot of tired bodies but anyone who came off was suffering from cramp so we will be ready to go again on Sunday,” he said.
“Anyone who knows me will know that complacency will not be a factor. We just have to be smart the way we play the game. We have great lads who have been performing at the top level all year and we just have to be professional the way we approach it. We want to be very hard to beat in Dr Hyde Park and we are looking forward to the challenge”.
Looking at the other fixture in the group, Burke says Dublin will face a major challenge from Kildare in Nowlan Park.
“Dublin have a lot of tired bodies too and I think Kildare will give them loads of it. It will be a very interesting game too,” he concluded.
Sligo football has seen something of a renaissance in recent years, particularly at underage level and will travel to the Hyde this Sunday with hopes of causing an upset following their well earned draw with Kildare.
Roscommon will have to deal with the twin threat of Niall Murphy and Sean Carabine, scorers in chief for the Yeats County. However, on the evidence of last weekend, Brian Stack and company will be expected to snuff out any real danger.
Expect the visitors to come out all guns blazing and remain competitive until half-time, but Roscommon should be able to pull away in the second half and take another important step towards quarter-final qualification. Prediction: Roscommon.
