There’s certainly a great drive in the players now: Jim Gavin

Dublin are ready to go again in Saturday's All-Ireland SFC final replay against Kerry in Croke Park (6.0).

The Dubs forced a replay thanks to Dean Rock score after playing for over 40 minutes with 14 men following the first half dismissal of Jonny Cooper.

“What I saw after the game was just a great solidarity amongst the group – a great connection and I suppose comradeship,” manager Jim Gavin told Dubs TV. 

“To a man, they were there in the dressing room immediately after the game, all the panel members including the guys who got the opportunity to represent Dublin on the pitch in the drawn game. They all rallied around each other, and there’s certainly a great drive in them now.

"It is always a difficult task to select 26 players from the group of over 30, to go out and represent Dublin, because I know the self-sacrifice that they give to their craft. It’s going to be a really difficult task, there’s so many combinations we can play.”

In the immediate aftermath of the pulsating drawn encounter Jim had stressed that the two weeks would be utilised to learn and improve.

"Over the full expanse of the game it just wasn’t good enough,” said Jim.

“We played well in patches of the first half. We went five points up and they got a point relating from that sending-off, pushed ahead and we went five up in the second.

“The guys, we know them well and they are mentally very strong, great mental reserve there - a resilient football team.

“A point down with 72 minutes on the clock, the perception might have been that the game has gone away from them.

“From our perspective, every day we go out it’s about performing to the best of your ability.

“It wasn’t good enough, simple as that.

“No excuses for it, we just need to go away and try to learn from it and come back the next day and perform to our best and represent Dublin.

“That’s the way we have always looked at it.”