Dublin manager Jim Gavin believes Leinster final Leinster SFC final opponents Westmeath are capable of tempering their instinctive attacking style and adopting a once-off defensive strategy for today's showdown at Croke Park.
The Lake County have run up impressive 3-14, 1-21 and 3-19 tallies in their three championship matches so far, though even those returns pale in comparison to Dublin's statistics.
In their last eight Championship games, stretching back almost three full provincial campaigns, rampant Dublin have won all but one by double digit margins and have enjoyed an average winning margin of 16 points.
That's exactly the gap that separated Dublin from Westmeath when the counties last met in the 2013 Leinster quarter-final.
Donegal, Derry and Tyrone have also shown in the last year that it is possible to frustrate and even defeat Dublin with a heavily defensive strategy. All of those sides had previous experience of playing in such a manner, though Gavin insisted it would be possible for Westmeath to do so quite effectively as well.
"Yeah, I think it is possible for them to do that," said Gavin. "I think the challenge for all coaches, in fact the biggest challenge we all find, is on the offensive side, the creative side of the game.
"I think defensively, when you're putting up those defensive systems, they're a bit easier to manage. It's the offensive work that we go after a lot, obviously. That's where most of our focus goes on, the creative bit."
Gavin said he has been "very impressed" by Westmeath's return to a first Leinster final since 2004 with wins over Louth, Wexford and their incredible semi-final defeat of Meath, a game they were behind in by 10 points at one stage.
"We prepare for each game in isolation and we prepare the same, in a very diligent way" - Jim Gavin
The 2013 All-Ireland winning manager suggested that Westmeath manager Tom Cribbin's strong and public rebuke of his players following Allianz league relegation in the spring helped them turn a corner.
"It's obviously worked," said Gavin. "They've had a great Championship run, three games, seven goals and 52 points. We'd be quite chuffed if a Dublin team scored that in three games.
"Whatever they're doing in there is working for them. They'll come into this game with absolutely no fear. They'll come to win as we'll come to win and may the best team win."
Gavin rejected the suggestion that if Dublin win on they will enter the All-Ireland series ill prepared, an explanation put forward by some for their semi-final defeat to Donegal last season.
So far this summer, Donegal have had to beat Derry, Tyrone and Armagh to reach their provincial final while All-Ireland holders Kerry were given a stern examination by Cork in last weekend's Munster final.
"I don't think it has much of a bearing," said Gavin. "We prepare for each game in isolation and we prepare the same, in a very diligent way. The process is the same for most of our games, be it national league, challenge games, pre-season, Championship games.
"There are certain processes that we go after, certain things that we target that we want to achieve. That's what drives the players on, regardless of the opposition.
"Any of the results they have had are down to the hard work the players have put in prior to the game and in the game itself. After the last game, they were very fatigued after it. A lot of work was put into that game against Kildare.
"I think if we'd just turned up and expected the win to happen, Kildare would have beaten us and we'll take the same process against Westmeath."
