Kerry to make light of absentees

All-Ireland SFC quarter-final/Dublin v Kerry: Into a football world gone crazy over the past week comes the game's heritage pairing. Dublin and Kerry collide for the second time in four years in this afternoon's Bank of Ireland All-Ireland quarter-finals

The public appeal of the fixture hasn't withered in Dublin, and over 10,000 Kerry supporters are expected to make the journey to Croke Park where today's double bill has been sold out for most of the last week.

When the draw was made it was easy to understand the Munster champions' lack of enthusiasm for a match they should win, but the events of last week came as a reminder that nothing can be taken for granted.

More tangible was the news that Séamus Moynihan won't be available - even to make an appearance. His drive and renewed appetite after the move from full back makes his loss a severe one for Jack O'Connor's team, even allowing for Kerry's on-message insistence that Moynihan hasn't played recently and so his absence won't disrupt the team.

Perhaps, but it's given Dublin a more plausible lifeline than had originally looked likely. Moynihan was the team's central influence in big matches. His ability to read play allowed him to put out fires all around the defence and when the gaps appeared his drive and creativity made him the first wave of attack. Without him, Tomás Ó Sé carries that burden of leadership, but he doesn't have Moynihan's footballing range.

As re-assurance for the Munster champions, Declan O'Sullivan returns and slots in at centre forward. His ability to get on ball, carry it and pose a scoring threat will lift the attack and enhance the threat of Colm Cooper and Michael Russell.

Much has been made of the corner forwards' failure to make much of an impact in the Munster final and replay, but that overlooks one central consideration that is unlikely to apply this afternoon. Limerick's centrefield is as good as any in the country and rendered Kerry's supply at best fitful. Dublin's pairing, however, has not been performing at that level and struggled quite a bit the last day - to the point where reinforcements had to be deployed.

Kerry take the chance of handing a senior competitive debut to Paddy Kelly. Not particularly tall, he's not a typical centrefielder, but has urgency and an engine to match. Reports from training indicate that Kelly has been pushing hard and "giving Darragh Ó Sé plenty of it".

Given Dublin's lack of mobility around the middle, the Kerry debutant provides interesting variety and even in the throes of a centrefield plague, which rules out Donal Daly, Tommy Griffin and Séamus Scanlon, O'Connor can still re-deploy Eoin Brosnan from wing forward.

Dublin can equally bring back Ciarán Whelan from centre forward where he can look uncertain, but, in the meantime, Darren Homan will have a shot at restricting Darragh Ó Sé in the conventional areas of activity. On current form, Homan will struggle, but three years ago when they last met he had a fine two matches filling that same role.

But Dublin's big question marks are at the back. While the forwards were impressive against Roscommon, the rearguard was nearly undoing all the good work.

Apparently, David Henry's face still doesn't fit the management's idea of a starting corner back so Paul Griffin will be asked to re-apply himself to the perilous confines of the last line.

On the basis of the match two weeks ago, it's hard to be super-confident about how well Dublin will cope with Russell and Cooper.

Paddy Christie will be fancied to cope with Dara Ó Cinneide, but he will have evil memories of this fixture three years ago and could be under greater pressure if Declan O'Sullivan is switched in to maximise his scoring threat. The fear further up the field is that Kerry's half backs could stymie their men and make life hard for Alan Brogan, Ian Robertson and Jason Sherlock on the inside.

Whereas this match isn't the cut-and-dried event it originally appeared, there are good reasons to expect Kerry to see it through. Under-strength they may be, but there are good players on every line and a better balance than Dublin possess. Kerry's defence may not be as good as their attack, but there isn't the worrying differential that Dublin exhibited in the last match.

The Munster champions have been a bit flat this championship, but they're good enough to negotiate this.