Freeman: Horan has given us edge

Mayo attacker Alan Freeman has credited team boss James Horan with adding “a harder edge” to the westerners’ game.

In the wake of their league semi-final extra-time success over Kerry in Croke Park recently, Kingdom attacker Paul Galvin noted the increased physicality in Mayo’s style of football and Freeman admits it is something they had to incorporate into their play.

“I think we tackle well and we tackle effectively. At the moment I think James has added a harder edge to us. I think we hit hard in all of last year’s championship. It’s not new to the game, every team is at it. We just have to adapt it and bring that into our game and I think we are doing that well at the moment.

“You can have nice footballers and still have a hard edge as well. I think all the northern teams have the hard edge, Kerry and Cork as well, and we are developing that hard edge.”

Freeman has also hailed the squad’s warm-weather training camp in Portugal since the league semi-final triumph as a major success as they have prepared for Sunday’s league showdown with Cork.

“The week was brilliant to get away and live like a pro for a week. I think the lads who played against Kerry got enough time to recover which is important. They might not have got that otherwise with work or college. It was important to get away and bond as a team. I don’t know if you can put a value on it but you really get to know your players when you are living with them [for] a week.

“Otherwise you might only see them a couple of times a week. When you’re away you are spending 24 hours a day with them. It was good from a rest point of view too for the lads who played [against Kerry] plus you can work on tactics and drills maybe once or twice a day when you have everyone together. It brings a team on no end.”

The Aghamore clubman has been battling an ankle injury in recent weeks but has recovered to be in contention to start for Sunday’s clash in Croke Park.

“I didn’t take a full part in all training in Portugal but I trained fully by the end of the week. I tried to be available for selection before the Kerry game. I did a fitness test on the Saturday night before the game and I knew the ankle wasn’t 100% right so I sat out the Kerry game.

“I got back into training so I’m fully fit again and I am available for selection for the weekend.”