THE irony surrounding Dublin's selection for tomorrow's Bank of Ireland Leinster Football Final is that it may have been strengthened by injury. With the first big championship test of Mickey Whelan's tenure in the offing it is clear that the All Ireland champions are struggling in terms of team selection and performance.

At the start of his term, Whelan was plainly anxious to stamp his own personality on the team he inherited from last year. To that end, a number of changes were made to the focus and composition of the team. From an early stage, it was apparent that the three players whose careers were resurrected, Eamonn Heery, Niall Guiden and Joe McNally, would figure in the first team plans.

The consequence of this was to alter radically the approach of the team. Heery's inclusion involved the redeployment of Mick Deegan to corner back, a position in which he isn't as comfortable as on the wing. Guiden's return to left wing forward has been at the direct expense of Paul Clarke, last year's leading scorer from play, whose confidence, already in freefall, was depressed further this week by the news that he was being dropped from the panel for tomorrow's match.

McNally's inclusion was in place of Jason Sherlock and necessarily involved a limitation on last year's style of play. Whereas Sherlock is fast and elusive, McNally is big and strong and more of a junction box than a full forward who can threaten his marker by taking him on. Both can finish for goal but Sherlock is more likely to create the opening for himself.

Tomorrow, McNally will miss out and Guiden may do so. Belatedly, and through force of circumstance, Dublin are now, reassembling some of the structures that proved successful last year. The loss of Clarke is irrevocable and was anyway inevitable, given his decline in form. Whether any future rehabilitation will be possible remains to be seen.

Ciaran Walsh was one of those dropped off the panel with Clarke. The utility full back line player hasn't featured much this year but has a lot of experience in covering the last line of defence. His displays last year were largely effective maybe assisted by Damien Delaney's first minute miss in the Laois match - and his marking of Peter Canavan in last year's final was about as much as any full back can these days manage on the Tyrone captain.

To let him go from the panel for tomorrow's match is puzzling when the substitutes' bench is considered. The return from retirement of full back Dermot Deasy gives the team greater solidity at the back but given that he has experienced recurrent injury problems and hasn't played competitive inter county for nearly a year, the question of cover is an urgent one.

To make way, David Martin, the young Whitehall full back, reverts to the bench. Whereas his form wouldn't merit him keeping Deasy off the team, it is likely that Martin's confidence hasn't altogether been enhanced by being dropped. Should a replacement be required, it is asking a lot of him to walk into the full back line and take over in the circumstances.

On field shuffling may ensue but it's hard to believe that Walsh wouldn't have been a good bet for one of the six replacement spots.

Given that Deegan's previous experience in the corner was on the right and that Paddy Moran is more accustomed to playing on the left, it is also hard to understand why they should have been switched.

The half back line has been one of the team's more obvious strengths since it tightened up three years ago. There is no inherent reason why this shouldn't continue but Meath are said to have devised their half forwards with this match in mind.

The combination of Paul Bealin and Brian Stynes is reassuringly familiar at midfield and have proved themselves a good complement to each other. There is no direct reason why they shouldn't maintain that form.

Problems may arise, however, depending on the formation actually implemented by Dublin. Pat Gilroy is named at centre forward. It may be that he will float as a third midfielder and allow Dessie Farrell to the 40, or alternatively that he will play as an orthodox centre forward. Either way, the net effect is likely to be the crowding of the midfield area - which given Dublin's conventional strengths in the middle, won't benefit them.

If the idea is to use Farrell to give the full forward line more poke, it is a poor substitute for losing his impact in the half forwards. The best way, on available evidence, of opening up the inside line is to give Sherlock more space to deploy his ability to turn his marker.

Such a reversion to last year's style would mark an abandonment of the more direct approach adopted up until now.

Guiden's recall was justified on one occasion by Whelan by reference to the player's form against Meath in the four match saga of 1991. This would be a valid contention if Guiden had showed any signs of reproducing that form at inter county level over the last five years but unfortunately he hasn't.

Aside from Clarke, Mick Galvin is the other member of the attack who has struggled to find a place this year. Again, it is hard to justify this on the precedent of last year.

Just as Clarke represented a major source of scores from play, Galvin also paid his way and the four points from play in the All Ireland semi final were vital contributions to a match that wasn't as easily won as it might have been. He is at least on the bench and may be called into action if needed.

In the other corner, Charlie Redmond is in questionable shape. Usually he needs to shed a bit more weight to maximise his effectiveness. Three years ago, he lost about a stone between the League final and the Leinster semi final against Meath - and the impact on his general play was obvious. Without that, he will struggle even allowing for the impressive way he stood up to be counted against Louth.