Kerry captain Bryan Sheehan is hoping for a case of third time lucky against Dublin and delivery of the level of performance capable of toppling the All-Ireland champions.
Mayo await the winners of the latest instalment of the long-standing rivalry (3.30pm, live on RTÉ One) and the general consensus is that the Jim Gavin’s side will continue their recent domination of the fixture and seal their place in the decider.
Victories over the Kingdom in last year’s All-Ireland final and the Allianz League final, a sobering 11-point defeat in Croke Park, have seen Dublin firmly placed as odds-on favourites with the bookies.
While Kerry enjoyed the bragging rights for the vast majority of their rivalry, the tables have been turned and the Munster kingpins have gone seven years without a Championship win in the fixture.
In truth Kerry have looked very much second best and Sheehan argues that first and foremost, the level of performance must improve from their last two defeats fresh in the memory.
“We just didn’t perform to the level we know we are capable of performing at,” the St Mary’s man told RTÉ Sport.
“If you came into training coming up to both of those games, we were playing really well and extremely confident of winning those games, but for some reason it just didn’t come out on the field on those two days.
“We are making sure that we play to our ability and bring that to match-day in Croke Park.
“We know that to beat Dublin you have to be at the top of your game.”
Another contributing factor to the underdogs tag is Kerry’s route to the last four, which remarkably has seen them play just Clare and Tipperary.
The Banner claimed the Division 3 title and enjoyed qualifier wins over Laois, Sligo and Roscommon, while Tipperary pushed Mayo hard in the other semi-final, but both sides failed to put up sufficient resistance against their provincial rivals.
Kerry sauntered to a 12-point win over Clare and a 10-point success over Tipperary in Munster, before comfortably seeing off the Banner for a second time on a scoreline of 2-16 to 0-11.
Sheehan, however, rejects the notion that they are undercooked heading into the toughest challenge in football.
“You have got to give credit to Clare and Tipperary, they have both had good campaigns," he said.
“We were lucky maybe that we met them in the early stages of the Championship. They have improved an awful lot since then, but I’d like to think that we are improving as we go along as well.
“We need to improve if we are to beat Dublin.”
The midfielder will be in the thick of the action where the battle for possession will be crucial in the outcome of the game.
Once again, the focus of attention will be Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs and the five-time All-Ireland winner admits that the midfield battle, and securing enough ball to supply the forward division, is key for Sunday.
“You want to get a foothold around midfield and get as much possession as you can," he said.
“In the quarter-final, things we wanted to do didn’t work out for us, so it didn’t go according to plan.
“We weren’t very economical with the ball, we gave it away very sloppily. If you can limit Dublin’s possession from kick-outs and put them on the back foot.
“It’s easier said than done of course.”
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