Stand-in Dublin manager Paul Clarke reckons that a number of young players have given boss Jim Gavin food for thought during their run to the O’Byrne Cup final.
The back-to-back All-Ireland winners opted to rest all of their panel for the pre-season tournament, instead fielding a development side against DCU, UCD, Wexford and Kildare.
A loss to UCD aside, the young Dubs have impressed and Clarke thinks that many have made a push for inclusion on the road to the final against Louth in Drogheda on Sunday (2pm).
Clarke told RTÉ Sport: “We came on board with a group of players based on Jim’s selection.
"He handed it over to myself, Brian Cullen and Jim Brogan [and said] ‘Can you get players from this group that can push forward to National League and just take each game as it comes?’
“We’ve done that. Whether he was thinking it could be four or five coming from this group, we hope to think that he has an option now of seven or eight or more coming from it.
“Another real competitive game will bring the group on, the team on and players on another bit.
“For a Louth team to beat Meath [in the semi-final], that’s a great result for them, they’ll be really delighted with that.
“We’ll be underdogs going into it but it’s a challenge that all those guys are looking forward to .”
