We try to keep improving: Jim Gavin

Dublin football manager Jim Gavin says his team are always striving to improve in order to make themselves as competitive as possible.

The Dubs face Donegal in what looks set to be a full house in Croke Park this Saturday in their All-Ireland SFC quarter-final (6.0) and Jim knows his men will have to be at their best to prevail.

“We try to keep improving because we know if we remain static, the game plan we used in '13, '14 and '15 isn't good enough because players and opposition teams will see that. So we have to have tweaks in our game-plan on a consistent basis," says Jim.

“If you don't we know that teams will evolve beyond us and we will remain static. We've got to keep going.”

The Dublin boss says the 2014 championship meeting of the same counties which Donegal won will be used as some motivational force by his side in Saturday's battle of wits.

“That wouldn't be the culture now, that kind of negative energy. We would be very much espousing the positives, going after our game-plan.

“What is in the past is in the past, we have never anchored ourselves in the past and that including the games that we have won.

“We have never looked back. We have learnt the lessons and boxed them away, try to put them into practice, move onto the next game, that's the process we have always gone through.

“So certainly we have never looked back and if we did, we would be looking at a completely different Donegal team to the one that is going to be playing," concludes Jim.

DONEGAL v DUBLIN

They meet for the sixth time in the championship with each side having won twice while there was one draw from the previous five meetings. Their last meeting was in 2014 when Donegal won the semi-final by six points.

Dublin are bidding to reach the semi-final for a seventh successive year while Donegal are trying to reach the last four for the fourth time in six seasons, having missed out in 2013 and last year.

PATHS TO THE QUARTER-FINAL

Dublin 2-21 Laois 2-10 (Leinster quarter-final)

Dublin 0-21 Meath 0-11 (Leinster semi-final)

Dublin 2-19 Westmeath 0-10 (Leinster final)

Top Scorers

Dean Rock…… …….1-28 (0-23f)

Diarmuid Connolly… ...1-9

Bernard Brogan………1-7

Kevin McManamon…..1-3

***

Donegal 2-12 Fermanagh 0-11 (Ulster quarter-final)

Monaghan 0-14 Donegal 1-11 (Ulster semi-final)

Donegal 0-17 Monaghan 2-10 (Ulster semi-final) Replay

Tyrone 0-13 Donegal 0-11 (Ulster final)

Donegal 0-21 Cork 1-15 (All-Ireland Qualifier – Round 4)

TOP SCORERS

Paddy McBrearty......0-26 (0-13 frees)

Michael Murphy........0-13 (0-9 frees, 0-1 ‘45’)

Odran MacNiallais....3-4

Ryan McHugh............0-6

PREVIOUS CHAMPIONSHIP CLASHES

2014: Donegal 3-14 Dublin 0-17 (All-Ireland semi-final)

2011: Dublin 0-8 Donegal 0-6 (All-Ireland semi-final)

2002: Dublin 1-14 Donegal 0-7 (All-Ireland quarter-final replay)

2002: Dublin 2-8 Donegal 0-14 (All-Ireland quarter-final)

1992: Donegal 0-18 Dublin 0-14 (All-Ireland final)

PREVIOUS ALL-IRELAND QUARTER-FINAL APPEARANCES

DUBLIN

They have played in 17 quarter-finals, winning nine, drawing three and losing five. The only year they didn’t qualify for the quarter-finals (introduced in 2001) was in 2003 when they lost to Armagh in the qualifiers.

2015: Dublin 2-23 Fermanagh 2-15

2014: Dublin 2-22 Monaghan 0-11

2013: Dublin 1-16 Cork 0-12

2012: Dublin 1-12 Laois 0-12

2011: Dublin 0-22 Tyrone 0-15

2010: Dublin 1-15 Tyrone 0-13

2009: Kerry 1-24 Dublin 1-7

2008: Tyrone 3-14 Dublin 1-8

2007: Dublin 0-18 Derry 0-15

2006: Dublin 1-12 Westmeath 0-5

2005: Tyrone 2-18 Dublin 1-14 (replay)

2005: Dublin 1-14 Tyrone 1-14 (draw)

2004: Kerry 1-15 Dublin 1-8

2002: Dublin 1-14 Donegal 0-7 (replay)

2002: Dublin 2-8 Donegal 0-14(draw)

2001: Kerry 2-12 Dublin 1-12 (replay)

2001: Dublin 2-11 Kerry 1-14 (draw)

***

DONEGAL

They have played in eleven quarter-finals, winning four, drawing two and losing five.

2015: Mayo 2-13 Donegal 0-11

2014: Donegal 1-12 Armagh 1-11

2013: Mayo 4-17 Donegal 1-10 2012: Donegal 1-12 Kerry 1-10

2011: Donegal 1-12 Kildare 0-14 (after extra-time)

2009: Cork 1-27 Donegal 2-10

2006: Cork 1-11 Donegal 1-10

2003: Donegal 0-14 Galway 0-11 (Replay)

2003: Donegal 0-14 Galway 1-11 (Draw)

2002: Dublin 1-14 Donegal 0-7 (Replay)

2002: Dublin 2-8 Donegal 0-14 (Draw)

LAST CHAMPIONSHIP CLASH

DONEGAL 3-14 DUBLIN 0-17 (2014 All-Ireland semi-final)

Dublin led by five points in the first half but a Donegal revival took them into a one point lead at half-time (1-8 to 0-10). Further goals by Colm McFadden and Ryan McHugh in the second half saw Donegal through at the expense of the defending All-Ireland champions.

Donegal: P Durcan; E McGee, N McGee, P McGrath; A Thompson, K Lacey (0-1), F McGlynn (0-1), N Gallagher, O MacNiallais (0-1), R Kavanagh (0-1), L McLoone, R McHugh (2-2), David Walsh, M Murphy (0-3, 0-2 frees), C McFadden (1-3, 0-2 frees). Subs: C Toye for David Walsh, P McBrearty (0-2) for McLoone, Declan Walsh for N McGee, M McElhinney for Kavanagh, D O’Connor for McFadden, M O’Reilly for MacNiallais.

Dublin: S Cluxton; M Fitzsimons, R O'Carroll, P McMahon (0-1), J McCarthy, J Cooper, J McCaffrey; MD Macauley, C O'Sullivan; P Flynn (0-4), A Brogan (0-2), D Connolly (0-5, 0-1free), C Costello, E O'Gara, B Brogan (0-3, 0-1free) Subs: N Devereux for McCaffrey, K McManamon for Costello, D Rock for O’Gara, P Andrews (0-2) for A Brogan, D Daly for Cooper, P Mannion for O’Sullivan

LAST COMPETITIVE CLASH

Dublin 1-10 Donegal 0-7 (2016 Allianz League, Croke Park, March 26)

Donegal led by a point early in the second half (0-6 to 0-5) but scored just one more point, while Dublin added 1-5, the goal coming from Philly McMahon.