Galvin recovers as Kingdom gear up for 'relaxed' Mayo

KERRY Allstar Paul Galvin is expected to recover from a throat infection to take his place in the Kingdom's attack for Sunday's All-Ireland quarter-final against Mayo at Croke Park.

Galvin returned to training on Sunday after a two-week absence, and is likely to form part of an unchanged attack for the All-Ireland final repeat against John Maughan's side.

However, the selectors will take a hard look at their half forward line before giving Galvin, Declan O'Sullivan and Liam Hassett a vote of confidence for the clash.

Galvin and captain, O'Sullivan have been struggling for form of late, with the veteran Hassett offering the most productive contribution against Cork in the Munster final.

Kerry will name their side tomorrow and must make a decision whether to keep Eoin Brosnan at midfield with Darragh Ó Sé, or return him to the half forward line, where St Mary's Bryan Sheehan is also pushing for selection.

The All-Ireland champions had a full scale practice match last Friday night, with Colm Cooper's groin injury standing up to a full seventy minutes.

"It was just a muscle fatigue thing in an area where I had an operation previously, but it's fine now. There was no reaction to it on Saturday, so it has cleared up at this stage," Cooper explained.

Coach Jack O'Connor and selector Ger O'Keeffe were at Dr Hyde Park on Saturday to watch Mayo's struggling win over Cavan, but O'Keeffe was more impressed than most.

"They cleaned out a decent Cavan team in every sector of the pitch, and created 32 scoring chances. They had a bad day shooting, but if they'd taken half those chances, they would have totted up a very impressive score," the Austin Stacks man said.

Ex-Cork star and tv pundit Anthony Davis believes the poor Mayo display was precisely what Kerry didn't need, because it may affect the Kingdom's focus going into the game. O'Keefe explained: "They will go into Sunday completely relaxed, really with nothing to lose. Remember, at this stage last year, they went into a quarter final in a similar state of mind, and destroyed Tyrone.

"Conversely, every time Kerry go out on a field, we are expected to perform and win."