Cian O'Sullivan and John Small are Dublin injury concerns for Jim Gavin following Sunday's tense draw with Kerry in the All-Ireland final.
The hamstring of Cian O'Sullivan and the hand of John Small will be affecting Jim Gavin's sleep patterns over the next few days.
Small was replaced as a blood substitute by Eoin Murchan at Croke Park in the draw with Kerry with a hand injury. Small was replaced on 57 minutes with blood clearly coming from his hand injury, and never returned to the fold.
O'Sullivan's is a more curious case as he would have been a relatively obvious solution to a defensive problem. One that began to manifest in the second half. However, it is understood that the influential back had a hamstring issue coming into the final.
According to Michael Verney in the Independent today O'Sullivan was not moving well in Dublin's warm-up drills ahead of the game on Sunday, so was not called into duty.
Break
The two-week break will be welcomed to ensure a clean bill of health by both managers who will feel there were missed opportunities to win the game. Gavin himself said he was "disappointed" with how the team playedThat's despite playing over 50 minutes with 14 men. He will be hoping for no more Dublin injury issues in the next fortnight.
Some pre-match predictions came to naught and both sides will rue the missed opportunities. Kerry the goal chances, Dublin the shot selection and inefficiency in front of the sticks.
The crucial thing for Jim Gavin's Dublin was keeping the Drive for Five alive on Sunday. They did just that and used the raised fist "kill momentum" signal late in proceedings with the game tied. There was still to be another chance of course. O'Shea fouled Paddy Small possibly knowing converting the free was unlikely. Rock lined up the difficult effort, a shot to nothing.
That dropped short and both sides get another go at Croke Park on Saturday week under the lights.
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