Rochford expects "ding-dong" Kerry battle

Stephen Rochford is expecting a fierce "ding-dong" battle with Kerry in Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park.

The Mayo manager has guided his side to yet another last-four place, recovering from a Connacht Championship defeat to Galway and some lethargic displays in the qualifiers.

The Westerners drew with Roscommon in the quarter-finals before getting back to their best in demolishing their provincial rivals in a replay.

However, Rochford knows they will need to lift their performance levels another couple of notches if they are to beat Kerry for the first time in decades.

"The glint is in the eye in regards the opportunity that lies ahead," he told RTÉ Sport. "I’ve no doubt it’s going to be a ding-dong game. That’s what Kerry brings out in teams.

"It has been a struggle over the last 20 years to beat them. It doesn’t come easy and that’s why they’ve been top of the pile and still remain there.

"I know the glint is definitely there for determination and we’ll certainly be giving our all on Sunday.

"The challenge through the qualifiers was just to get through. It’s a little bit of a cliché but that’s what it is. We would have been very disappointed with the draw with Roscommon but the sight of coming into Drumcondra and the sight of Croke Park certainly whets this group’s appetite.

"There isn’t an element of fatigue in us and the two-week break between the replay and this game will certainly be a benefit to us.

"I won’t do the analysts job for them but we didn’t really change much [from the Roscommon match].

"It’s well-documented that we probably squeezed a little bit more on the kick-out but there really isn’t a major change from one game to the next.

"It’s just a case of being more consistent and doing those right things more often.

"People’s focus may be on the margin of victory but certainly for us it was more the performance and getting that first performance this year that was more in line with a 70-minute performance.

"We felt in some of the games we had been playing well but only in short bursts. The satisfying thing was it was a 70-minute performance."

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