Dessie Farrell dismisses Dublin crisis talk with eye on summer

Dessie Farrell dismissed talk of a Dublin crisis but says their "sights are set" on peaking for this summer's All-Ireland Championship after a third Allianz Football League defeat in a row on Saturday.

After losses to Armagh and Kerry, Mayo were the latest side to consign the Dublin manager's side to defeat in 2022 and leave them at the foot of Division 1.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Farrell acknowledged that Dublin are in transition but saw positives at Croke Park despite the 2-11 to 0-12 loss to the same opponents who beat them in last year's All-Ireland semi-final.

"Not for us it's not," he said of the suggestion that Dublin's form represents a crisis of sorts.

"Obviously it's disappointing the string of results we had, but there's a combination of factors involved in that.

"While the results have been poor, there has been certain aspects of the game, our performances, that have been quite pleasing.

"We're getting an opportunity to try out a lot of new players as well, we have some of the older senior guys coming back from injury over the coming weeks as well, so for us it's about taking it game by game and that's the way we approach it."

Farrell added that talk of battling against relegation from Division 1 would not be a focus for his side because "that brings a pressure that isn't going to be helpful" to the players.

Colm O'Rourke explains Mayo's crystal clear approach to trying to open up the Dublin defence in the first half#RTEGAA #Allianzleagues #DubvMay @RTE2 @RTEplayer