Dublin boss Ger Brennan has revealed he will cut players from his panel this week after making some first-half changes due to players finding the pace of the Allianz Football League Division 1 game with Mayo "catching them out".
Brennan has continued his experimental start to his Dublin reign in the Allianz League by blooding a host of new players.
Having assessed over 130 players since taking the role, the former Louth boss was always planning to trim down his squad during the league.
But with opportunities also comes the ruthless nature of sport as Ethan Dunne and Killian McGinnis were subbed before the break, while Brian Howard also made way due to injury.
The Dubs were no match for Mayo, going down 1-18 to 2-09 in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, with Brennan admitting results in the competition are not their biggest priority.
He said: "It is a new beginning for myself, the management team and this group of players and we are working hard to give guys opportunities to put their hands up.
"We have a big panel still there at the moment, which we're going to cut further next weekend as we prepare for round three, four and five and into the Championship."
Speaking on the decision to make multiple subsititions in the first half, Brennan explained: "We're giving lads opportunities and just with the level of competition that's there within the squad, you can't really get more than 15-20 minutes to show that you're at the tempo of the game.
"That's why those decisions are made. They are all good lads to be fair to them, it was just the tempo of the game was probably catching them out."
It's now two defeats for Dublin with a relegation battle potentially on the cards for Brennan’s side in Division 1.
He said it will not bring fear to the group.
"There's certainly no panic," he stated.
"The league for us, it's about trying to unearth and blood up a couple of new players.
"We're obviously doing that strategically. We had a couple of new lads in this week, making debuts and a couple of guys last week making debuts and we’re just trying to see how they get on at this level.
"With the bigger picture in mind, which is obviously pushing hard for the Leinster Championship and the All-Ireland championship later on in the year, it’s a league of exploration.
"There's a risk-reward factor to it in terms of not having as many of your experienced guys in the field, but we know what those fellas can do. They've given a lot to Dublin, but we've probably at a turning point now where we had to start unearthing a couple of new guys and bring freshness to the whole group."
Dublin played the majority of the second half with 14 men after a straight red card for full-back Seán MacMahon and a 46th minute goal from Darragh Beirne had Mayo in total control.
Brennan felt there were good points for Dublin: "It was a tough loss.
"There are a lot of positives in there. There were a few great saves from Evan Comerford from the first half as well which kind of kept us in it.
"Going in at half-time, we had a good chat and worked out a couple of different tactical improvements.
"We probably should have scored 1-02 in the first five minutes of the second half and then we're down to 14 men.
"The lads on the field worked hard and and credit to Mayo, they were deserving winners on the day."
For his opposite number Moran, it was a second win on the trot, though the Mayo manager stressed that the McMahon red card had a significant impact on the game.
"That game completely turned on the sending off," Moran told RTÉ Sport. "It was a really tight game up to half-time.
"I thought we did okay. I'd have liked if we attacked a bit more in the second half when we were up a man. But listen, you'd take the two points every day of the week.
"Our efficiency in front of goal was under 50% [in the first half]. The big thing for us coming out in the second half was to increase that. We did that. We left a few goal chances behind us but we did an awful lot of things well."
Heading into a two-week break, Moran said he was satisfied with how the group were progressing, along with the return from injury of key players.
"We're happy with how the boys are responding to the level of training we're putting on them. And also the injury profile. The likes of Darren McHale, Matty Ruane, Donnacha McHugh, Cillian [O'Connor] were injured long-term.
"It's great to be seeing some of them boys coming back. And then on top of that, the other boys staying fit, staying healthy, that's the key thing."
