Mayo v Laois, Croke Park, Sunday, 2.0: It's a question of the glass being half full or half empty for both of these teams heading into tomorrow's replay. Mayo and Laois have been comforting themselves over the past week that they've more to offer than was apparent in the drawn match.
Mayo's desire for self-improvement looks more plausible. They hadn't played for four weeks and will have been glad to get out in one piece from a match that - between implementing their own high-tempo running game and coping with Laois's - was always going to put pressure on their lack of match practice.
Mickey Moran has acted decisively on one of the problems that arose last week - John Healy's at-times-wayward kick-outs - by dropping the goalkeeper and bringing back David Clarke.
The question of who will fill the vacancy at corner forward is subject to varying interpretations but it is established that Kevin O'Neill has a calf injury, and should he recover, the place is likely to be his. Otherwise there have been suggestions Trevor Mortimer could make his return after chronic injury but it's not certain his recuperation, reckoned privately to be 80 per cent last weekend, has reached the stage where he can start a match of this importance.
The idea of introducing a more physical presence into the full-forward line has its merits, given the amount of wasted ball that rained down on the Laois defence as well as Ciarán McDonald's evident desire to play closer to his own goal than the opposition's.
The other permutation doing the rounds is that Barry Moran comes in, with Pat Harte moving into the half forwards and Billy Joe Padden switching to the inside line, which would be a fairly complicated way of filling one vacancy.
Laois's optimism is based, paradoxically, on how poorly some of their key players fared last week. It's true Ross Munnelly was quieter than the standard he had established in this championship and Pádraig Clancy wasn't at his best at centrefield. But equally, you have to wonder can Noel Garvan be counted on to deliver another three points from play in his new position at full forward - a switch rationalised by manager Mick O'Dwyer last Monday as "sure we had to do something".
There was some surprise that Donie Brennan wasn't included after his second-half campaign of terror on Dermot Geraghty, but Brian McCormack has better in him and Brennan will be on hand.
Mayo's defence has conspicuous room for improvement. Keith Higgins aside, none of the backs will feel they did themselves justice though the central axis of David Heaney and James Nallen that allowed six points from play to be scored has known jittery days in Croke Park before.
The deployment of McDonald has become a critical factor in Mayo's prospects. As the best kicker of a ball on the field, the Crossmolina player is really needed in the danger area to optimise his contribution. He is currently operating too deeply to cause Laois much pain.
Located closer to goal and with target runners to aim at, he would be a much enhanced threat both as a scorer and provider.
As the draw last Sunday indicated, this has been the hardest of the quarter-finals to call, but Mayo have the greater scope for improvement and Croke Park familiarity (and contrary to the view that it's become some sort of via dolorosa for the county, since the new stadium opened Mayo have lost a respectable three out of seven championship matches there) to make sure this time.
