Kerry manager Jack O'Connor hits out at 'crazy' championship structure which left Kingdom with four-week break

Jack O'Connor watched his team negotiate their All-Ireland quarter-final against Mayo

Kerry were not at their best on Sunday, but didn't need to be as they saw off an underwhelming Mayo at Croke Park.

The Kingdom had eased through Munster with comfortable wins over Cork and Limerick, before facing a four-week break to the quarter-final.

The competition structure is changing next year, with an All-Ireland series group stage for teams coming out of the provinces, but O'Connor said that this year's format has not been satisfactory.

"We needed a game," he said. "I mean, it's ridiculous, we were sitting for four weeks watching our opposition playing games. It's almost like you're penalised for winning the provincial championship.

"Thankfully that changes next year but it's a crazy system. What do you do? You try to make training as intense as possible and hope for the best. From watching that first half, I thought we were a fair bit off the pace."

Kerry have set up a showdown against Dublin

And he said his team will need to improve for their meeting with Dublin in two weeks.

"We have to tidy things up front. I thought we gave away a lot of ball and that was probably to do with the conditions as well," he said.

"Mayo have tough, pacy backs and they were contesting the ball, but I think we need to be a bit cleverer with the delivery to our forwards. We were forcing it, a ball and in those conditions any sort of a hand in the ball is going to spill and we spilled a lot it in the first half."

It was a comfortable victory for the Kingdom

Kerry are relishing a crack at Dublin in the championship for the first time since the 2019 All-Ireland final.

"The bottom line here is these Kerry players have been yearning to get a cut at the Dubs from as far back as three years ago," he said.

"They lost an All-Ireland out there that they would feel they could have won. We certainly won't be lacking motivation, but neither will Dublin.

"Dublin will want to show that they're back as good as ever, the team that won the six-in-a-row. They had a blip last year and they look to have rediscovered the hunger and the drive that got them to that six in a row."

David Clifford sustained an ankle injury in the first-half

Meanwhile there are a number of injury concerns, with David Clifford going over on his ankle.

"David was struggling through much of the first half. The boys worked on him at half-time but obviously he has an injury and, sure, look, we'll have to wait and see and get it scanned and see what's the story," O'Connor said.

"It was curtailing him and in the heat of battle the adrenalin keeps you going but I imagine he will be very sore tomorrow.

"Jack Barry strained his calf and Adrian Spillane strained his hamstring in the last week or so, so they'll also be in a race against time."