Former Dublin manager Paul Caffrey said Jim Gavin and his backroom team will have spent the last two weeks "burning the midnight oil" as they look to get to the root of the Sky Blues' off-key All-Ireland final display.
Mayo knocked the reigning champions out of their stride in an absorbing encounter, with Cillian O’Connor's late score deservedly giving them another bite at the cherry.
We need your consent to load this SoundCloud contentWe use SoundCloud to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Speculation has been rife that Jim Gavin will axe some big players for Saturday evening's Croke Park rematch.
Kevin McMananmon started last time out - after being used so successfully off the bench in the 2011, 2013 and 2015 deciders - but Caffrey feels he could return to the familiar role of impact sub, while Bernard Brogan's place is also under threat.
"Kevin McManamon has always delivered as a sub; I think we need him on the field in the second half of the game," he told RTÉ Sport.
"Bernard Brogan could be in a bit of bother. Whether Jim will want to do that or not remains to be seen.
"James McCarthy being off the field for the whole of the second half was a big loss to Dublin [he was black-carded after 25 minutes]... but they will need to improve because Mayo certainly were the better team and were unlucky not to win the last day."
Caffrey led the Dubs for four years, capturing four Leinster titles but failing to get beyond the All-Ireland semi-final stage.
He expects both sides to iron out the errors which pockmarked their first encounter, but said Dublin's need for improvement is greater, blaming complacency for their underwhelming showing.
“It’s fascinating," he added. "It was a strange drawn match; both teams have room for improvement. I would think that Dublin marginally have more room for improvement.
"We won’t know until shortly before throw-in if there’s going to be changes. I imagine that the midnight oil has been burnt over the last 13 nights in Dublin contemplating what way to roll this team out.
"They underperformed the last day; they probably went in a little complacent after the great semi-final win over Kerry."
Watch live coverage of Dublin v Mayo on The Saturday Game on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player from 1600 and follow our live blog on RTE.ie. Live radio coverage on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 and highlights on The Saturday Game on RTÉ2 from 2200.
