Kildare boss Cian O’Neill doesn’t place any stock in the notion that Dublin will be undercooked coming into this evening’s Allianz League clash at Croke Park (7pm).
Jim Gavin sent his All-Ireland winners on holiday to South Africa during the O’Byrne Cup and for the second year in a row deputy Paul Clarke went to battle against Offaly and Wexford with an experimental squad.
Preparing for a first season back in Division 1, the Lilywhites, meanwhile, got stuck in with matches against Longford and Louth, both resulting in defeat.
"Some people might say Dublin won't have as significant a pre-season done as [we] have," said O’Neill, who led Kildare to the Leinster SFC final last year where they suffered a nine-point loss to the Dubs.
"But that being said, they have played into September for the last number of years when most other teams have been finishing in June or July or even some teams in August.
"They are still going to have some of the best players in the country, they are still going to have great organisation"
"That does offset the lack of time they may have put into their pre-season [but] they may have played two or three months longer every other summer than some teams.
"So they are still going to be a really stiff challenge
"They are still going to have some of the best players in the country, they are still going to have great organisation, they are managed brilliantly.
"So it is up to us to put what we have learned in our pre-season campaign into that match.
"You are testing yourself against the best team in the country, whether it is the first match or the last match, they are still the top team.
"They won't be backing down from seeing Kildare coming up the M7 and I'd like to think we won't be backing down just because we are playing the All Ireland champions."
Follow the weekend's Allianz Football and Hurling League action from 4.30pm on Saturday and 1.30pm on Sunday - live on RTÉ Radio 1 with live blogs on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News Now App.
Watch live games on GAAGO (overseas only) and see highlights on Allianz League Sunday - RTÉ2 9.30pm
