Paul Flynn has dismissed the notion that there is bad blood between Dublin and Donegal.

There has been no shortage of controversy in recent meetings between the counties who will renew their rivalry in Sunday week's All-Ireland SFC semi-final. In the corresponding game three years ago, Dublin's Diarmuid Connolly was sent off, but was able to play in the final against Kerry after his red card was rescinded, while there were allegations of a bite on Donegal's Patrick McBrearty during their most clash in the Allianz League last year.

But Dublin star Flynn - who lived with Donegal captain Michael Murphy during his DCU days and was also friends with Martin McElhinney and sub-goalkeeper Michael Boyle - insists the two counties are the best of enemies.

"I know a good few of the Donegal lads and I got on quite well with them off the field. But once you step onto the field, with any opposition you play against, until that game is over it's a battle and that's just the way it is," he said at an Adidas Predator Incurza Kicking Masterclass yesterday.

"It could be with anybody. It could be a club game. A squad game. Whether it is, that's just football. That's the way we're built as athletes and footballers. So I don't think anyone's going to be carrying bad blood."

The Fingallians clubman, who is a contender for Footballer of the Year, wouldn't be drawn on Donegal manager Jim McGuinness' claim that Dublin are the GAA's answer to Chelsea.

"The county board in Dublin are doing great work. There's no doubt about it," he continued.

"I'm from Fingallians. We've got a GPO (games promotion officer) there supported by the county board. They do great work in Dublin to build GAA within Dublin. They can do what they do. And when it comes to our set-up, I just go to training and get on with it. And I don't think any more of it. That's the way I see it."

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