Eamonn Fitzmaurice concedes that Dublin are the best football team in the country at present.

And, as he prepares his Kerry side to do battle with the holders in Sunday's national football league final - a repeat of September's All-Ireland SFC decider - the Kerry manager insists that there are no ulterior motives behind his concession:

"There's no mind games in me saying that, the facts back it up. They have not lost a league or championship game since we beat them in Killarney in March of last year," he reasons in The Irish News.

"They've won eight out of a possible nine trophies under Jim Gavin and the competition they have for places at the moment is keeping them all on their toes.

"Back in January, you would think that we were the team that won the All-Ireland the previous September and Dublin were the team with a point to prove, judging by how the match went. For any All-Ireland champions to have hunger like that in their first game of the new season is very impressive.

"What I like about Sunday is the fact there will be no shadow boxing by either side and it will be a full-blooded affair. We've gotten a lot out of the league this year and we would like to finish it off with a trophy now."

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