Former Tyrone star Sean Cavanagh believes Kerry’s reliance on the Clifford brothers could see them caught out in their All-Ireland SFC defence next year.

Both David and Paudie Clifford were integral this past summer as the Kingdom claimed their first Sam Maguire Cup in eight years with victory over Galway in last month’s final.

In ranking his top eight contenders for the title next season on Buzz.ie, Cavanagh still has Jack O’Connor’s men as favourites but says he wouldn’t be surprised to see them losing in the next “two or three” All-Ireland competitions.

“I’m going: ‘Yeah, you won. You scraped over the line. You had a bit of quality on the bench that Galway didn’t have, but equally you are incredibly reliant on the two Cliffords’,” the three-time All-Ireland winner wrote.

“Their defence has tightened somewhat with the influence of Paddy Tally and Jack O’Connor’s winning mentality.

“I still don’t think they are a defence that other teams won’t score well against next year. The big teams will up their game.

“I don’t see them as a team that has us saying, ‘Right, they are going to win three of the next four All-Irelands’.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they lost the next two or three. If David Clifford went off form or got an injury I don’t see a massive wave of green and gold All-Irelands in the next number of years.”

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