Pat Gilroy is expecting his Dublin side to be in for a stern test when Monaghan visit Parnell Park tomorrow night for round four of the NFL.

The Farney men have a good record under Seamus McEnaney at the Donnycarney venue and after their recent win over Tyrone the Dublin boss knows that his team's opponents will be carrying momentum with them into the game.

"Every time you play Monaghan you're going to get a hard game, they're going to tackle you hard and move the ball quickly. I'd expect no different," said Gilroy.

"We are surprised (at our results) but we have to be patient, with so many new players. We are after getting results that have surpassed our expectations. We didn't play particularly well in the last two games, but we won. They weren't performances that were good enough to start talking about All-Irelands, though."

Meanwhile, in-form midfielder Eamonn Fennell has responded to claims that he is the replacement retired All Star Ciaran Whelan by saying that he wants to give his all for Dublin as the Raheny man did in his time with the Sky Blues.

"He (Whelan) gave everything to the cause and that's what I want to do - to give everything and try and make that All-Ireland final," said Fennell.

"But I'm not looking that far ahead. I got dropped off the panel once and I don't want it to happen again, especially as I have nothing to fall back on." Tweet

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