Ciaran Whelan says the Dubs must curtail the influence of Kerry's potent forward line or else they will struggle in Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final.
Speaking on this week's RTÉ GAA Podcast the former Dublin footballer added that many in the capital feel that their defence is their biggest concern ahead of the meeting with the Kingdom.
"It's probably the concern a lot of Dubs would have coming in, whether the Dublin defence can withstand the power of the Kerry forward line."
"Johnny Cooper likes to come out and help sweep around the breaks and then he tries to drop off and if Kerry win those, they can get at the Dublin defence quite early.
"I think that is what they [Kerry] are going to try and do because they are excellent at kick passing and they are excellent at their inter-change play in the forward line.
"From a Dublin perspective, I think John Small and Sean O'Shea is ultimately a given.
"Who picks up David Clifford? Probably Mick Fitz [Fitzsimons]. Davy Byrne came on the last day as a sub but Davy Byrne I think is carrying an injury and he made need an operation post-season.
"You have Paudie Clifford, Mayo put Lee Keegan on him to try and curtail his influence, I think he really makes that forward line tick. Does Murchan get the job of following him?
"Lee Gannon marked him for the league game this year and struggled on him for the first 15/20 minutes. Paudie Clifford was very influential, so who goes on Geaney then?"
Dublin have not lost to Kerry in the championship since 2009 but Whelan says if the Kerry forwards bring their A game then that record could well be in trouble.
"It is a tough one for Dublin," the two-time All-Star continued.
"Dublin have to curtail their influence, if Kerry bring their A game in the forwards, Dublin could struggle defensively."
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Follow the All-Ireland Football Championship semi-finals this weekend, Galway v Derry (5.30pm on Saturday) and Dublin v Kerry (3.30pm on Sunday), via our live blogs on rte.ie/sport or on the RTÉ News app. Watch live coverage on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player with live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
