All-Ireland SFC Final: Ian O'Riordan talks to the two men who will walk the line in Sunday's senior final.

Jack O'Connor is still cursing us for writing off Kerry and can't wait to rub it in on Sunday. Mickey Moran is convinced Mayo are going to rock this final and we ain't seen nothing yet. And they're both whispering to the other: "You're going down . . ."

Neither manager actually said any of this, but it must have crossed their minds at some stage during yesterday's All-Ireland football final press conference at the Bank of Ireland headquarters in Dublin. What they did say was way too relaxed and serene to reflect the breakneck contest in store this Sunday.

Pressure - what pressure?

"Sure you just enjoy it," said O'Connor. "It's not all about gritting your teeth for nine months and hoping that you'll enjoy the final. And the players seem to be enjoying it as well. A lot depends on the characters in the squad as well, and we've a good few of them.

"There was more pressure last year, definitely, partly with the two-in-a-row, which hadn't been done since 1990. This year everybody wrote us off after the replay with Cork, including our own gang down below. So in many ways everything we've done since has been a bonus, and I have to say I don't feel the same pressure as last year."

Kerry's path to the final, added O'Connor, has already been more rewarding: "I remember we struggled badly against Waterford, playing at home, and there was a period there, 10 minutes into the second half, when there was a serious chance we were actually going to lose the game. There was no spark at all. And I don't think the attitude was what it should have been.

"And Cork came down to Killarney meaning business. They were probably better than us that day, and comprehensively so in the replay. All we could do was regroup, but then we had lost an All-Ireland final last year and knew another Munster championship wasn't going to make our Christmas.

"Deep down, the players' ambition was to get back in the shake-up for another All-Ireland final. So it was only when we got to the qualifying that we really found our momentum. And we've had tough matches, eight matches, and that's night and day compared to last year, when we went full steam ahead right through really."

Still, one man who has clearly helped gain that momentum is Kieran Donaghy - and more specifically his move from midfield to full forward.

"It was certainly a big decision to move a young player like that into a new position," admitted O'Connor, "and he certainly could have felt we were messing him around.

"But he's such an enthusiastic young man and such a team player that he was willing to give it a go. And he has given it a real go, and certainly allowed us to change our style a fair bit, and give us that bit of shape and direction we were lacking."

Moran's path to Sunday's final with Mayo has been a little longer, at least in terms of preparation. In fact, he has no idea how many times he's made the 309-mile round trip from his home in south Derry.

"All I know is I changed the car there in the middle of July. I had 91,000 miles on it, from 46,000 when I took the job. And I've done 8,000 miles since the middle of July. But when you take on a county, you're not just taking on 30 players; you take on the pride in the county as well. And Mayo is a lovely county, and the GAA plays a marvellous part in it.

"But I don't think the hype is as great this year as 2004. And no player and no member of our backroom staff has talked about 2004. Absolutely not. To be honest, there's been so many hard-luck stories in Mayo that neither (my assistant) John (Morrison) or I have listened to any of them. We've also analysed the video of the Dublin match, and there's a lot of room for improvement in our performance."

Both managers will finalise their teams tomorrow evening.

"Well, I can't see many changes in the Kerry team," quipped Moran.

"Sure I'll have to talk to the two selectors - and see if we can come up with a team," said O'Connor.

As if they were actually thinking that.