It’s only three days to go now ’till our league clash with the Dubs but it’s deathly quiet out there, with little or no news about the game. In this world of 24-hour, non-stop news production, the lazy, lumbering hulk that is RTÉ isn’t often to be accused with being out in front with newsworthy tidbits (unless it’s about public sector pay, of course – they’re always good for the in-house stuff) but, to be fair to them, they’re the only ones saying anything at the minute and this morning are reporting that Alan Dillon and Cillian O’Connor will both miss the Saturday night HQ match.

The news about Cillian being out isn’t news at all, of course, as he’s been recovering from that dislocated shoulder injury since before Christmas (using that logic they may as well have added Andy’s ongoing absence to their headline) but Alan’s unavailability is.   That same report, by the way, also says that Colm Boyle, Donal Vaughan and Richie Feeney are all available for selection.

The Mayo News also has some stuff you might be interested in. Ed McGreal has a good analysis, based on a second viewing of the Tyrone match, of what we’re doing wrong at the moment while Sean Rice reckons that a win on Saturday is “crucial” for us. I’m not sure it is, to be honest. Don’t get me wrong – it’s always good fun to beat the Dubs (especially on their own patch) but it’s a bit early in the year to be talking about shit-or-bust matches.

The other bit of news – which isn’t news either, as it’s been known for days – is that Meath’s Cormac Reilly will ref Saturday night’s game. The most recent time we came across him was in last year’s Connacht final where there was much gnashing of teeth about his interpretation of what constituted an illegal handpass.

I see that @MayoGAA have just announced that the team for Saturday night will be published at lunchtime today. Shouldn’t that be ‘dinnertime’ or have ye gone all posh in the west?

PS: Emmet Ryan at Action81.com has a good preview on the game which is well worth a read.