Graham Geraghty reckons teams are no longer fearful of Dublin.

In his Irish Sun column, the former Meath star believes Jim Gavin's men have lost their aura of invincibility in the last six months, and expects Westmeath to ask serious questions of them in today's Leinster SFC semi-final.

"Dublin look a bit flat this year," Geraghty wrote.

"We've seen that Jim Gavin's Sky Blues can be vulnerable. They're not the powerhouse they were last year and the year before. They can be got at.

"The Dubs don't look to have a settled team at the moment. It's such a big panel, with things chopping and changing all the time. Their starting XV was pretty much set in stone when they won back-to-back All-Ireland titles.

"A lot of unwanted attention has come their way with the Diarmuid Connolly saga, something they could have done without. Dublin do not like to be in the media spotlight and Jim will have hated this latest circus around his star player. The Vincent's man won't feature today after failing to overturn his 12-week ban but Connolly hasn't been playing at his best and Paul Flynn's in that bracket too.

"Bernard Brogan's been in and out of the team - another of their leaders who isn't at his peak. Those are big boots to fill. I'm not sure about some of the new lads coming in just yet - Con ­O'Callaghan, Niall Scully and Conor McHugh have a lot to prove.

"The fear factor Dublin had is ­definitely gone and they had to come from behind to scrape draws in the league against Kerry in Tralee and in Donegal. The Kingdom finally beat them in the Division 1 final. And since then every side will be looking at where they can hurt the All-Ireland champions."

He added: "If Westmeath can get in front today, they'll really get their tails up. If that happens, we'll see what the Dubs are made of when the chips are down."

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