Smith out to make amends

Donie Smith fears Roscommon's hopes of progressing in the All-Ireland SFC could be hampered by their six-day turnaround.

Roscommon were hammered by Galway in the Connacht SFC final replay last weekend but they have had little time to dwell on the defeat because they have just six days to prepare for a Round 4 qualifier against Clare.

Smith endured a day to forget at MacHale Park last weekend when he was sent off and, while history is against his side, the 23-year-old is hoping to put the Galway defeat firmly behind them when they meet the Banner County.

“We are just going to go out and give it our best shot. I know provincial losers don’t have a great record, but we are going to try and turn that around and get back on the horse," Smith said.

“We just have to assess the game against Galway and move on. Everyone needs to get back doing what we are good at and that’s playing football.

“We are an expansive sort of team that like to play attacking football. We didn’t show it against Galway but hopefully if we can get to Croke Park we can show off our talent and skills that we normally have."

Roscommon were one of the standout teams during the Allianz Football League but they have failed to carry that form in the Championship.

Smith acknowledges they were well below their best against Galway but believes the loss will stand to the team in the years to come.

“We just didn’t start quick enough, and had a mountain to climb. We were playing with the wind and couldn’t get a foothold. They picked off serious scores too," Smith added.

“It was very disappointing, we had a massive crowd travelling to Castlebar and that was difficult to take.

“While we didn’t show it we know how good we are. It could have been a different story in the first game against Galway, we could have won.

“But that was a first Connacht final for a lot of lads, they will take a lot of lessons from it. The hurt of losing will hopefully drive them on in the next round and hopefully in the next few years.”