Roscommon's prospects would be a lot warmer had they been able to field a full team. Galway have had their own problems with Derek Savage badly injured and out for this weekend at least. But the Donnellan melodrama is over and Michael lines out at centrefield.

Roscommon have trained relentlessly to try to revive the championship aspirations so badly undermined by the last two years. The league saw signs of revival with confident ball work, some fine forward play and most importantly spirited responses to adversity in the away wins in Dublin and Donegal.

Galway seem to be drifting back to their old reliables with a number of last year's regulars coming into the team. Long-standing difficulties in defence and at centrefield remain and while tomorrow will give some useful indicators, harder tests await.

For Roscommon, in the light of their casualty list, it's a good job the qualifiers have been introduced.