Bernard Brogan helped himself to 1-10 when Dublin overcame Mayo by 2-14 to 0-16 in the third round at Croke Park back in early March.

The 2010 'Footballer of the Year' has been sidelined for the last three rounds with a hip injury but, ominously for Mayo, he is available for selection again this weekend.

After that defeat, Mayo boss James Horan said: "Ger (Cafferky) was on him and didn't do a whole pile wrong. When you have a player with the calibre of Bernard Brogan and you give the guys kicking the ball in the amount of time they had, yourself could put in a pass to him and he's going to score it."

Therefore it is safe to expect that the Mayo players will increase their work-rate around the middle third of the field in an effort to cut off the supply to Brogan at the source.

After round 4, Mayo looked like relegation fodder when they fell to a 0-11 to 0-13 defeat at the hands of Down but, since then, they have managed to turn things around with wins over Donegal and Cork.

In contrast, Dublin coasted through the round-robin stage of the competition and were installed as favourites for outright honours from a long way out. There was no sleepless nights in the Dublin camp following the defeat to Tyrone and last weekend's draw with Donegal.

The big question mark hanging over the Vodafone sponsored outfit is whether or not Jim Gavin knows his best starting 15. The new Dublin boss is spoilt for choice but concocting the right formula looks to be his biggest challenge.

For instance, young forward Paul Mannion was given his chance in Brogan's absence and grabbed it with both hands. Gavin is the envy of most other managers in the country who wouldn't mind having his selection headache.

Mayo are in bonus territory after going from the verge of relegation to the semi-finals in the course of a couple of hours last Sunday.

They are sure to put in a strong performance this weekend but Dublin have made the running all through the league and it is difficult to see them falling at the penultimate hurdle.

Verdict - Dublin

Dublin - TBC

Mayo - TBC

Odds: Dublin 1/2 , Draw 9/1, Mayo 2/1

Match Details: Croke Park, Sunday 14 April, 3.45pm Tweet

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