‘We’re a work in progress, records don’t bother us’

It might be a record belonging to Kerry that Dublin bid to match on Saturday, but Eamonn Fitzmaurice is adamant the unbeaten run of their fiercest rivals is of little interest to his squad.

Allianz Football League Division 1

KERRY V DUBLIN

Saturday: Austin Stack Park, Tralee, 7pm

Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone)

TV: Eir Sport

The Kerry manager accepts the subplot to their Division 1 meeting in Tralee — Dublin are chasing a 34th game unbeaten to equal the run of the Kerry team in the early 1930s — contributed to the fixture selling out weeks in advance.

But the Finuge man insisted Dublin’s record bid isn’t being used as a tool in his prematch speech.

“Everyone is going to be talking about records and can Dublin be stopped. They’ll be asking whether Kerry can do it or will it be someone else. But that doesn’t impinge on us.

"It is not as if I’m going to be hammering the table in the dressing room beforehand talking about records,” stressed the Kerry manager.

Maybe he should be banging the table.

Kerry are the last team to defeat Dublin but that was over two years ago. They’ve met four times since. Dublin claimed all four.

“Passion does come into it and believe me, there is never a lack of passion in our group and there won’t be on Saturday evening. We are going to try to win a game like we try and win every game.

"Obviously, with Dublin, there are added incentives there for us because they’ve had the upper hand on us for the last couple of years. There is huge motivation there from our point of view, more so than any other team.”

Fitzmaurice continued: “This is the stuff that keeps players going; thinking about the best team in the country coming to their home patch on a Saturday night. You know beforehand it is a sold-out fixture.

"There is going to be a great atmosphere here and that is the reason the lads are in it, that’s the reason we’re in it; big games, big nights. You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t looking forward to it.”

Former Tyrone footballer Philip Jordan was critical last week of Fitzmaurice’s defence. He claimed Kerry need to pay more attention to a unit which has felt the loss of Aidan O’Mahony and Marc Ó Sé.

The manager, though, doesn’t see their defence as being an area of concern.

“We are relatively happy and we are improving the whole time. I think we played quite well at the back against Roscommon. Against Monaghan, we didn’t concede a huge score but we conceded the two goals.

"Against Mayo, we weren’t good in the second-half. Against Donegal, we were good for the first two-thirds and not good for the final third.

"I’m not worried about by defence. By the time the championship comes around, we’ll be fine, we’ll be solid.

“Sometimes, we are accused of being weak at the back. Other times, we are being accused of too defensive.

“We’ve been good going the other way. It is a balancing act.

"And while the league is beginning to take shape, it is still very early in the year in terms of the big picture. We are still very much a work in progress.”