Leitrim star Emlyn Mulligan isn't hiding his delight at getting back into the county setup for this year's championship.
The forward spent a period of time in the USA but is now back in the fold and the first Connacht championship match is this Sunday against rivals and neighbours Roscommon.
"It's always something that would have brought me back. I was on a career break from the guards and I'm not back in the job yet but I could have stayed on a little bit longer in America and that. But you obviously miss the county football too and it's a great 'oul buzz and especially these sort of weeks leading up into championship games and no better one than Roscommon. So I'm delighted to be back," he told Daithi Boland of Shannonside.
The Allianz League didn't go well for Leitrim, with the county finishing second bottom of Division 4 with two wins from seven.
"It was disappointing of course. At the end of the day, promotion is your aim and we didn't get it," he said, adding that he is looking at the positives from some of the earlier performances rather than the defeats at the tail end of the campaign.
"I've forgotten completely about the league and the league isn't the team you're going to see next Sunday, I can assure you of that. That's one thing I can assure you of because the last six weeks have been very good to us," he said, also making the point that Roscommon were almost shocked by New York in the Connacht opener despite an excellent league campaign and is looking forward to continuing the "special rivalry" on Sunday in the hope of catching Roscommon on the hop.
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