Pat Gilroy insists Dublin have "plenty of scope for improvement."

This year sees the Dubs set out to defend the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time in 16 years and current manager Gilroy was a member of the side that put their national title on the line in 1996. While that mission proved unsuccessful, Gilroy sees few parallels between the Dublin Class of '96 and the present side.

And, speaking in the Irish Independent, the Sky Blues boss reckons his young players can improve on their silverware-winning exploits of 2011:

"I think if we had played three matches like the Tyrone game, you might be struggling to figure where we go for improvement. It would be a different challenge and I think it would be hard. But we didn't perform at that level consistently last year, so it leaves us plenty of scope for improvement.

"In terms of sheer hard work and determination, the Donegal win, from an achievement point of view, was massive because our backs were to the wall, and obviously the Kerry match was a great comeback. But in terms of a 70-minute performance, Tyrone was the best display in my time involved.

"There was a lot of what we have worked on over the last few years which came right that day and it was probably the only occasion in the whole of last year where we could honestly say that we saw that for close to 70 minutes.

"There was stuff we did well in the last two games, but we did fall back on some old, bad habits. In the semi-final and final, we went through periods where we seemed to just give the ball back to the opposition for nothing and that's an area we could really improve on.

"The result was fantastic, but it wasn't the best we could possibly be in the final. There are good, solid foundations there and I think we can build on those foundations.

"The team I played on was sort of coming to the end of the road as opposed to the start. In saying that, the following year we did apply ourselves quite well and got beaten by the eventual winners, Meath, in a tight Leinster final - but I just don't think there was the same desire there and the age was a big factor.

"There are so many fellas here who are sub 23 and they are mad for football and training. I think there's been a sea change in the whole attitude towards physical fitness compared to 17 years ago. These guys permanently want to be fit, they are not looking for breaks, they just want to train and if they are not training with us, they will train on their own and I think that is a big difference.

"We made a lot of mistakes against Kerry, like when they outscored us 8-1, but there was a lot to be learned because it was an intriguing match.

"Getting to the final after all those years had been progress, so this was always going to be the start - and it should be the start because it is such a young team. The average age was 23 last year and that's a great age to have a team at." Tweet

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