Mayo manager Kevin McStay said his side were well placed to have a tilt at the All-Ireland after they edged out their provincial rivals Galway by a point in a tense preliminary quarter-final in Salthill.

Pitched into a do-or-die tussle with their neighbours after a disastrous final quarter against Cork in their last group game, Mayo played against a strong wind in the first half, trailing by a relatively modest margin of five points.

They wiped out the half-time deficit within 10 minutes, David McBrien surging forward to slip home the game's only goal. Cillian O'Connor, introduced early in the second half, pointed to nudge Mayo in front, with Paddy Durcan raiding up the left wing to notch 0-02 to push them three in front at one stage.

The 2022 All-Ireland finalists, badly hampered by the loss of Damien Comer at half-time, did rally late on but couldn't find enough scores in the face of that stiff breeze, falling one point short.

"It was a massive contest," a palpably relieved McStay told RTÉ Sport after the game.

"It could have swung either way in the end. We got the nudge.

"The goal was huge, a brilliant goal. Great pass by Aidan opens it up and David used to threaten to do this. I've said it to him all year, he's going to get one of these. Because he does that so well. And he stuck it.

"We played it out as well as best we could. Like, it was not easy. That's a quality Galway team. And they gave us a massive contest. Half a point would have been loads!"

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Mayo have little time to rest and smell the flowers with a quarter-final looming in an attritional format.

With repeat pairings from the groups discouraged, Dublin, Derry and Armagh are their potential opponents from Monday's draw.

McStay, however, is confident his squad is strong enough to cope with the barrage of games and insists they can give the All-Ireland a good rattle from here.

"Right now, I feel of course we can. Months ago, we went about building up a big squad. That's what this big squad is for.

"We played week on week in the league at a high tempo already. So, we're well used to it. We're hoping we didn't pick up anything too heavy. I hope everyone can recover.

"[There's] massive enthusiasm now for the trip to Dublin. Let's see where tomorrow [the draw] brings us."