Mayo looked like a team who hadn't played in six weeks in their narrow win over Monaghan, says Peter Canavan

Mayo's performance against Monaghan was one of a team who hadn't played championship football for six weeks.

They stumbled over the line.

I said prior to the game that Monaghan had a great chance. If they could curtail Mayo's runners, they would win the game.

Without Ryan O'Donoghue up front, I felt the Connacht side were going to lack bite. That's the way it transpired.

Lee Keegan, Paddy Durcan, Eoghan McLaughlin all came forward to score important points. And the penalty from which they scored the all-important goal came from a foul on Oisin Mullin.

That is four defenders that hurt Monaghan.

The Farney County got to grips with the Mayo forwards, but they couldn't handle the runners from deep.

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Ultimately, James Horan's side deserved their win. But Monaghan can rightly feel aggrieved.

By and large, Barry Cassidy got the major decisions right, bar the last one. Mayo's penalty was the correct call. Conor McManus deserved his black card. And it wasn't a foot-block for Monaghan's first penalty claim.

At the time, I felt Conor Leonard went down a bit easily, and I'd imagine Cassidy thought that as well. But when you watch it again, not only did Lee Keegan have his hands around the Monaghan forward, but his feet were entangled as well.

Nine times out of 10, a penalty is awarded for that.

Monaghan had merits in their complaints, but over the course of the 70 minutes, Mayo shaded proceedings and derserved their win.

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Focus now turns to Kildare, and I think it is a good draw for Mayo.

Yes, drawing one of the lower-ranked teams may have given them a path through to the quarter-finals, and would have more time to get Ryan O'Donoghue back into contention.

But a meeting with the Lilywhites whets the appetite. Mayo have a score to settle after 2018.

It's not going to be straightforward for the Connacht side, but it's a game they have no problem getting motivated for, and they should progress to another All-Ireland quarter-final.

Is there a kick in Donegal?

Sunday's qualifier clash in Clones is all about Donegal.

I think Armagh will put up a good show. They're coming into the contest in a brilliant frame of mind, but it's all about the mindset and attitude of this Donegal group, off the back of the disappointment of the Ulster final.

I'm not convinced that there will be a kick in Donegal.

I backed them against Derry. I backed them against Cavan two years ago. I have backed them in a lot of big games in recent years, and they let you down.

They certainly have the players to take on and beat Armagh.

In a situation like this, management can be strong and have great plans for them. But how they're going to progress is determined by the leaders in the group.

In this case, there's a very strong leader in Michael Murphy. So it's how quickly they can refocus, and how honest and genuine they are when they get back to training. And how determined they are to right the wrong of an Ulster final defeat.

Management can have the best-laid plans, but so much will be determined by those leaders within the Donegal group.

We're going to find out when they played Armagh.

Watch Clare vs Roscommon and Mayo vs Kildare live on Sky Sports Arena from 3:15pm Saturday.