Jim Gavin says Dublin are not playing guessing games

Jim Gavin isn’t taking any chances. Even if playing Bryan Sheehan in goals sounds sillier than shrewd and has been dismissed by Kerry, he’s not buying into that speculation.

“Kerry have (Brian) Kelly and an All Star goalkeeper (Brendan Kealy) there. Bryan Sheehan probably played in goal before I’m sure but wherever Bryan plays he’s a threat, he’s an outstanding player. He’s a great free-taker, a great passer of the ball. He has great physicality and wherever they put him on the field he’s a threat to us.”

That safety first approach of Gavin’s could easily be applied to the way in which he has used Ciarán Kilkenny who these last couple of games has been filling in for the injured James McCarthy in the half-back line. Kilkenny, a leading contender for footballer of the year, has shown such ease in changing up his game.

“I’ve played him at 21s full-forward. Haven’t played in the full-back line yet but every other line he has played. He’s very flexible in that regard and understands the game very well. He’s got great game intelligence so he knows how to play the various roles, be it corner-forward or wing-back.

“I think he’s well able to play there (half-back) be it an orthodox 15 v 15 or teams that play like Donegal, who are an expert team at playing that counter-attacking style of game. I think most teams would have players who are adaptable in a number of positions and I think we’re seeing that through the teams that are remaining.”

Gavin stresses Sunday will be an entirely different affair to their quarter-final win over Donegal, yet the defensive style exhibited by Kerry in beating Clare twice and Tipperary once this summer might suggest otherwise. Gavin is more mindful of what they did in the spring. “They’ve shown various game-plans during their National League campaign. We met them in the final. Once they got their man sent off — I think it was the 48th minute, — there was only two points in that game. They are well able to push up high, they are well able to get their forward players behind the ball and set up a defensive line..

“They’re unpredictable in that sense. What Kerry can bring, because they have such talented and experienced players, you can’t plan for every eventuality. Therefore we’ve based most of our preparation on our game-plan. That normally sees us get a performance.”

Dublin’s aggregate margin of victory over Kerry in their last three meetings is 19 points. Gavin qualifies that record: “They know and we know there’s literally a bounce of the ball between us, some of the score-lines would reflect otherwise but that’s the harsh reality of it.

“Kerry do pose a different challenge. They keep a lot more players up the field. If you look at the names they have they are all outstanding individual players. Collectively, they play very well. We’ve seen from recent times, in 2013, what can happen if you give them the space, that they can punish you. We’ve seen that in recent games, there is literally a kick of a ball between both teams. If we give Kerry space, they’re going to hurt Dublin.”