O’Connor confident Kingdom can prevail

Jack O'Connor sees Kerry as being in the perfect position in the build-up to Sunday's All-Ireland final against Donegal, explaining that much of the spotlight has been on Jim McGuinness's team after their win over Dublin.

O’Connor, whose Kerry minor team are odds-on favourites to beat Donegal in the curtain-raiser on Sunday, believes Kerry won’t get frustrated in the same way that Jim Gavin’s side did and can prosper as a result.

“I think they can win. The seniors are in a great position going into the final. The entire spotlight is on Donegal after beating Dublin. I think people are forgetting the intensity of the battle Kerry had with Mayo over two days and extra time. I think Eamonn [Fitzmaurice] is in a fantastic position.

“Donegal are favourites and it will be hard for Donegal to replicate the intensity of the performance they put in the last day. Physiologically, it will be very hard for them to get up to that pitch again so I think Kerry have a right good chance.

“I wouldn’t go along with the notion that Dublin caved in. I think they just got frustrated and were sucked into a game that really they didn’t want to play. They had to force the play and put a lot of bodies forward, leaving themselves open at the back. Tactically, Donegal got it right. They created huge space for players to run into.

“The big lesson for Kerry looking at the game is Ryan McHugh will have to be picked up, nobody was picking him up and he was a free man.” With the game bound to be a dense tactical affair, O’Connor backs Fitzmaurice to match whatever McGuinness comes up with. The idea Kerry might be stuck in traditional ways doesn’t apply.

“What is tradition? Tradition evolves and you have to innovative. I think Kerry set up pretty defensively against Cork in the Munster final. Was that straying from tradition? Kerry will have learned from the mistakes Dublin made tactically in the semi-final. Eamonn is a clever fella. I think he will pick up a good few lessons from the way Dublin set up. I don’t think Kerry will leave themselves as short at the back as Dublin did.”