Kevin McStay urged Cillian O'Connor not to retire

News emerged recently that the championship’s all-time time leading scorer had decided to take a one-year break from county football.

Mayo manager Kevin McStay said he is in favour of Gaelic football's new rules. Picture: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Mayo manager Kevin McStay says he ‘strongly encouraged’ Cillian O’Connor not to retire from inter-county football in the wake of the forward’s decision to opt out of the Westerners’ squad for next season.

Speaking at a media briefing in Castlebar on Friday, McStay said he was ‘not going to go into 'personal detail’ about his discussions with O’Connor in recent weeks ‘out of respect’ for the Ballintubber clubman, who hasn’t spoken publicly yet on the subject.