Dublin eyes firmly focused on Mayo: Declan Darcy

Dublin selector Declan Darcy says the Dubs must be prepared for every eventuality ahead of this Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC final against Mayo in Croke Park (3.30).

Mayo did the unexpected when positioning Aidan O’Shea at full-back for the drawn semi-final against Kerry and the Dublin selector says they could produce something unexpected again this weekend.

"I thought it was a fantastic move for him to put Aidan O’Shea at full back," says Declan. "It was different.

"Players like that as well, to be challenged. And the game needs to see different things - sure everybody was talking after five minutes, ‘What’s Aidan O’Shea doing in on Donaghy?’.

"It’s different and people like that. For any team to evolve they have to think outside the box sometimes to get the tactics right and put the other team on the back foot.

"Their (Mayo’s) form might not be as predictable – they are likely maybe to do something against us.

"But we’ll prepare again, we’ll watch what they have done, but we can’t legislate for what they are going to do but we’ll prepare as best we can for what they might throw at us. They still only have 15 players on the pitch at the end of the day."

The Dublin v Mayo rivalry has been massive for the past decade or and the Dublin selector is anticipating another titanic battle.

"You can look at a team and ask ‘why are they in four All-Irelands in the last six years’?

"Is it because they are lucky? It’s not, it’s because they have a huge standard of footballers.

"Look at Lee Keegan, he’s a standout footballer, has physicality, pace, he has everything and they have several players like that.

"They have been hugely resilient to stay at that level and it’s reflection on the effort piece, the commitment to their county and you have to admire that.

"To get to an All-Ireland final you still have to have ability and they have that in abundance.

"But we’ve just kept a battle rhythm in trying to get the best out of the players as best as we can and see where that brings us. We are very fortunate to be where we are.

"We can’t go back on reputation on what lads have done previously, because that’s a trapdoor for us.

"So we just keep our eyes firmly in front of us and see what the players are doing and we pick accordingly.

"And obviously playing against oppositions, we pick players that we think will do a job for the team against that opposition".