By Cian O'Connell

Paddy Andrews is adamant Dublin can cope despite the fact that Rory O'Carroll and Jack McCaffrey will be unavailable for the 2016 All Ireland Football Championship.

Full back O'Carroll has decided to spend the year in New Zealand, while McCaffrey intends to do some volunteer work in Africa during the summer.

Andrews believes that Dublin have the playing system and depth to deal with the departures. “Rory and Jack are fantastic players, everyone knows that, but we're not overly reliant on one guy doing one job,” Andrews said.

“Everyone in the group, the 34/35 guys that are still there know how we want to play. They know what works for our team, they know what doesn't work. If someone steps out, another lad can step in. You've probably seen that even in the five games to date in the league where I think we've made changes pretty much for every game and our performance hasn't really dropped off.

“Everyone knows what is expected of them so it's not overly reliant on any individual, as good as players as they are. I think we're well placed to absorb the losses.”

Having played alongside O'Carroll in Dublin underage and senior teams Andrews acknowledges the impact the Kilmacud Crokes defender made in a blue shirt. “I was fortunate enough to play a lot of underage stuff with Rory coming up and obviously with St. Brigid's and Kilmacud Crokes, we would have played each other a lot in Championship games and we would have come across each other,” Andrews commented.

“He's a fantastic player and his record shows that. To have achieved what he has, he's a year younger than me, All-Ireland club titles, All Stars, All-Ireland titles - he's been such an integral part of those teams. He's a fantastic player, but he has made his decision that he's not going to be available for us.

“Like I say, you've already seen guys that have come in, Michael Fitzsimons, Davey Byrne, guys are getting the opportunities now who are every bit as talented. Now they're getting the opportunity to show that. It's just about moving on and dealing with the guys that are available.”

With five wins pocketed so far Dublin's Allianz Football League semi-final berth is secured, but the upcoming Division I matches against Donegal and Roscommon still promise to be revealing according to Andrews.

“To be honest, when you're talking about the competition within our panel and the places up for grabs, it doesn't matter whether it's Donegal or whoever we're playing,” Andrews said about the March 26 Croke Park clash with Donegal.

“They're obviously very hard team to play against, the same as most of the teams in Division I. There might be a little bit extra obviously because of the recent history and because we've played in some really big games over the last number of years.

“Some have gone for us and some have gone for them. I suppose just that familiarity with how they play and what they bring to the table is there, but it's really just about us trying to get that good performance to get the win. We may already be in a league semi-final, but we just want to keep it going, whether it's against Donegal or Roscommon the following week.”

Andrews isn't placing too much emphasis on past glories either, Dublin's focus is firmly on the present. “I think we are one of a number of teams that have aspirations of being successful in the summer.

"There are seven or eight teams that would be looking at being successful. The back to back thing doesn’t really matter. We want to win as much as we possibly can when we have the opportunity. We have ambitions to do well in the summer, but there is probably six or seven teams in the exact same boat as us.

“Back to back isn’t really something we talk about. It’s just about being successful this year. What’s gone in the past doesn’t really matter now; that’s genuine.

“We’ve got to keep improving because Donegal are improving with a lot of other teams; Mayo and Kerry too. It’s just about trying to be a little bit better going forward because if you stay at the same level you open yourself to being caught again.”

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