The All-Ireland champions Galway will need to considerably improve their performance if they are to overcome a resurgent Kerry team on Sunday, according to manager John O'Mahony.

The re-match of the 2000 All-Ireland is the main feature on Sunday's attractive double bill and it will be first time the teams have met in championship football since that September final.

"Naturally that All-Ireland will be at the back of our minds," agreed O'Mahony yesterday.

"We still have many of the players who lost on that occasion and they certainly remember what it was like. But I think if we are to be honest then we will have to really raise our game a lot on what we have managed so far in the championship."

Since 2000, the shape of the Kerry team has altered significantly, particularly with the departure of the cult figure Maurice Fitzgerald from the forward line and the emergence of new young players such as Colin Cooper and Eoin Brosnan.

A flat exit against Cork in the Munster final set them on the gambler's path of the qualifying system and wins over Wicklow, Fermanagh, and Kildare last Saturday, has sharpened both their appetite and game.

"It definitely has," agrees O'Mahony. "We experienced a similar benefit from the qualifying system last year and it is quite obvious that Kerry have become more dangerous with each game.

"It is going to be an incredibly tough game for us but we knew at this stage of the competition that that was going to be the case no matter whom we drew."

Although Galway won the Connacht title comfortably this year, they have spent the past five weeks training and seeking challenge games.

In contrast, Mayo and Sligo, counties they defeated along the way, have made it to the same stage through the do-or-die environment of the qualifiers.

Similarly, Kerry have had a busy and successful month, blowing easily past Fermanagh before ending Kildare's summer in impressive and efficient fashion.

"Certainly the way in which they beat Kildare was really impressive. But this is Kerry. The lay-off hasn't been ideal for us," says O'Mahony, "but you cope with it as best you can and we are looking forward to getting back to Croke Park."

In Armagh, Joe Kernan is also relishing the prospect of returning to the ground that has yielded him so much club, if not county, success.

The Ulster champions encounter against Sligo is appealing in that it is so unusual.

"I have a memory of playing a league semi-final, I think, against Sligo in Breffni Park around 1981," he says. "But that was a fair while ago and there has been very little history between the two counties since."

Kernan travelled to Croke Park to see Sligo dispatch Tyrone a fortnight ago.

"Like everyone else, I was very impressed. At the time, I felt it was a really close and tense game but later on, I realised that Sligo actually won it quite comfortably. It was tight for a long time but they were growing stronger with each passing minute."

It is a tricky game for Armagh to size up. They will probably go in as favourites but are playing a side that have learned how to win in Croke Park, something that has eluded Armagh in 1999 and 2000.

"Definitely, Sligo will be on a high and probably can't wait to get back to Croke Park. We have yet to play there since the new structure was completed and it will be new to us. But we won't be alone in that regard.

"I think it is going to be a really close and attractive game. But you could say that about all four quarter-finals. There is a lot of football to be played."

Like Sligo, Donegal have similarly happy and recent memories of Croke Park and will feature on the main bill against Dublin on Monday.

"We were actually hoping to get Dublin," says county PRO Paddy Mullen, "purely because it would guarantee us a return to Croke Park. There was always the possibility of a game against any of the other counties going to another venue. But the crowd that Dublin can attract really necessitates their being in Croke Park. We had no preference of teams beyond that.

" No matter what side you get in this stage of the contest it is going to be difficult."

And after last week's days of uncertainty over whether Cork would advance as Munster champions or meet Mayo in the qualifiers, they have ended up been drawn against the Connacht side just a week later.

"Well, there was always that chance," says Cork PRO Pat Horgan. "It is a massive game for both counties and we are delighted to be going back to Croke Park. With Dublin playing the same afternoon, there should be a fantastic atmosphere there.

"And I think that both Cork and Mayo will bring great support with them as well. I really think it makes for a tremendous day of entertainment."

ALL-IRELAND SFC QUARTER-FINALS

At Croke Park

SUNDAY

Armagh v Sligo (2.30 p.m.)

Galway v Kerry (4.15 p.m.)

MONDAY

Cork v Mayo (2.30 p.m.)

Dublin v Donegal (4.15 p.m.)