WE DON’T MIND GAMES AT HEADQUARTERS

CIAN O’NEILL admitted Kildare’s latest loss at Croke Park was galling but denied they’ve got any psychological block with the venue.

Against Armagh on Saturday, the Lilywhites slipped to their 17th defeat in 22 games at Croke Park – a tale of woe that stretches back to the 2011 All-ireland quarter-finals.

They’ve played at Headquarters three times this year and lost the lot but manager O’neill said that record has nothing to do with the venue.

He said: “There’s an obvious trend that can’t be denied but if you look at the matches themselves, one was a League final against Galway, so you’re playing a team of equal ability who are going to be in Division 1 next year. One was a Leinster final where you are playing the best team in the country in recent years.

“This one is the one that will really rankle with us because we felt we were in a really good space coming into this match.

“What happened two or three years ago was irrelevant to us because this is a totally new group, with a totally new system.

“Last year, it was a very young and inexperienced team and we got disappointingly defeated against a Westmeath team that, like (Armagh), we should have beaten. But I don’t think it’s down to Croke Park, that’s a faulty logic. We just didn’t perform when it mattered most.”