Casey expects Dubs to ‘test’ O’Connor shoulder

Former Mayo All Star John Casey believes Dublin will test Cillian O’Connor’s shoulder early in Sunday’s All-Ireland final.

The Charlestown man was delighted James Horan named O’Connor in an unchanged starting team yesterday but said the question marks over his fitness will remain.

“It’s hard to say if Cillian will be targeted,” he said. “But if Dublin see a ball loose in front him they’ll want to see how fit he is. I don’t think they will go out to give special treatment to just him, they’ll test all the Mayo forwards.

“It’s critical that Cillian will play from a Mayo point of view but it’s subject to him being 100% fit. That’s the burning question. Obviously they will have put him through the mill. To test a shoulder you’d just have to get him to run into a tackle bag or a tackle, so it must be fine.

“But just for his free-taking alone, he’s needed. He will take a huge burden off Alan Freeman and Kevin McLoughlin. I don’t think either will of them will want that.”

With speculation rife that Andy Moran’s place was in doubt, Casey said it would have been a cruel decision to leave the captain on the bench. “It would have been worse than ruthless to drop him for a final but that’s two huge question marks over our forwards,” he said.