Éamonn Fitzmaurice expects more focused, less passive Dublin against Roscommon

A year on from last meeting in the All-Ireland round-robin, Dublin and Roscommon face off again at Croke Park, with Éamonn Fitzmaurice not expecting the Dubs to be as passive as they were in the drawn encounter from 12 months ago, while adding they will improve on their Leinster final showing.

With Mayo overcoming Cavan in the first of the Group 2 fixtures last weekend, Davy Burke's Rossies are the visitors to GAA HQ on Saturday evening for the other first round game. Last year's clash between the pair finished level.

Roscommon, in fact, put themselves in a strong position to claim a landmark win when they led by four points with half an hour remaining. But having then been overtaken by a resurgent Dublin, and after falling two points behind, stoppage-time points from substitute Conor Cox and Donie Smith earned the Connacht side a deserved draw.

It was a game where Roscommon frustrated their hosts for large parts. For a six-minute period, the Rossies played keep-ball and goalkeeper Conor Carroll had 19 possessions during that spell.

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Speaking on the latest edition of the RTÉ GAA Podcast, Éamonn Fitzmaurice reflected on that encounter and saw similarities with how Dublin struggled against Louth in the recent provincial decider - a game where they won in the end by four points.

"This time last year Roscommon had finished third in Division 1 and had a bit of momentum. It was the first year of the Davy Burke project; Mark McHugh was involved with them and by all accounts he was