Cian O’Sullivan winning fitness race for final

By Brendan O’Brien

Cian O’Sullivan is expected to train with Dublin next week, handing Jim Gavin a clean bill of health ahead of the All-Ireland football final meeting with Tyrone on September 2.

The defender was taken off against Galway in the semi-final this month, shortly after contesting a ball and conceding a free. He held his lower leg as medics arrived and he was replaced.

O’Sullivan also missed most of the Leinster Championship with a shoulder issue picked up at the end of the league, but the Kilmacud Crokes man will now be able to take part in preparations as Dublin chase the four-in-a-row.

Yeah, it’s good news,” said Gavin at Dublin’s pre-game press night in Parnell Park. “You get the normal bumps and bruises that you would associate with a championship game, but we are healthy, which is great.

O’Sullivan is just one of three men to have started all five of Dublin’s All-Ireland finals stretching back to 2011 — Stephen Cluxton and James McCarthy are the other two — and Gavin has no doubt as to just how important the veteran is to his side’s continuing ambitions.

“He is a good leader. He drives standards, both on and off the pitch. He is a very experienced player and I have been fortunate to work with him through a lot of it. There are a group of players with that experience and it is important going into games like this that we can trade off that.”