Gavin pays tribute to his players

Dublin manager Jim Gavin has paid tribute to his team's ability to think their way through a game as they focus on Sunday's All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Donegal in Croke Park (3.30).

The Dubs' on-field leaders will be needed in Sunday's clash as it most certainly won't follow the pattern of many of this summer's duels to date.

Donegal's strategy is based on a water-tight defence while up front their shot-to-score ratio is impressive making them such a difficult team to overcome.

“The great thing about these Dublin players is they have a high level of game intelligence,” says Jim.

“They see patterns of defensive play develop against them; they will talk about it on the field of play; and do what is required to break a team down.”

The Dublin boss is also aware of the fact that Donegal may tweak their game-plan to try topple the reigning All-Ireland champions.

“When we played them in Ballybofey, they pushed up on us. So they can certainly change their strategies as well. We don’t really look that far in the past. Both teams have changed and evolved since 2011. That’s a long time ago.

"So the reference point for me would be Donegal’s most recent success, which is an Ulster title and a very compact game against Armagh, where they looked to be in control for most of it, and they did what they had to do to win the game. That’s what quarter-finals are about.”