Dessie Farrell hoping to have Kilmacud Crokes contingent for Cork clash

Dessie Farrell expects to have some of his Kilmacud Crokes contingent available for their round three trip to face Cork on 19 February.

The week's break in the Allianz Football League should see some of those players drifting back to county duties after their All-Ireland Club final saga edged closer to an end.

Last Friday, Derry outfit Glen confirmed that they would not be playing the replay that had been ordered by the GAA after Crokes were punished for having 16 active players on the field in the final play of the decider. Now Dublin becomes the main focus.

Paul Mannion’s return to Dublin colours has already been confirmed while Andrew McGowan was on the bench for their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Kerry last July. Farrell may choose to offer some fresh invitations after their Andy Merrigan success for Crokes.

"We’ll definitely have some of those players come back to us, which is great because we’re still trying to build out the panel," Farrell told RTÉ Sport after their 2-17 to 1-11 win over Limerick.

"Obviously the Crokes’ contingent will be the last to make up the numbers for us.

"[It’s] another opportunity, the next day, to bring more players in and get some other players exposure as well."

While Dublin were eventual nine-point winners at the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Sunday, they did see a 13-point interval advantage whittled down after Ray Dempsey’s side hit 1-03 without reply.

They’d re-establish their dominance in the final quarter and for Farrell that dodgy third-quarter spell wasn’t as concerning as it may appear on paper.

"We spoke about it at half time in terms of guarding against complacency and keeping the tempo high and the intensity where it needed to be," he said.

"I think it was just more to do with shot