Longford in no mood to just roll over

Leinster Under-21 football final: The only disadvantage Dublin will have in Sunday's Leinster under-21 football final is pressure, the pressure of being the overwhelming favourites.

The reigning Leinster champions are built around established seniors like Alan Brogan, Declan O'Mahony and Bryan Cullen. There is also Tommy Lyons and co on the sideline.

Longford, with no under-21 titles and only two seniors on the team, can only draw inspiration from some recent events. The county broke ranks and won the Leinster minor title last year, and last month St Mel's also recaptured the Leinster colleges title.

Longford manager Joe Mulvihill, however, is not willing to entertain the idea that only a major surprise would deny Dublin the title in Mullingar on Sunday evening .

"Well, I think that would be very unfair on a county like Longford," he says, "and I don't believe there is such a thing as a divine right in sport. It's all about performing on the day."

Mulvilhill does accept that Longford represent a novel presence in the final. They've only previously contested three (in 1966, 1981 and 1982), losing each time.

"There is the perception out there we are meant to fall by the wayside every year. I suppose we have defied the odds along the way, but we are in the final now on merit," says Mulvihill.

"Of course we're under no illusion about the task we'll have on Sunday. This Dublin team has already come through several Leinster minor finals, and won the Leinster under-21 title last year. Many of them have played throughout the league."

Forward Michael Kelly is the sole member of the successful Longford minors of last year, and only Dermot Brady and David Barden are part of the senior team.

The bulk of the team have tasted the winning feeling for the first time this year, most memorably in the semi-final win over Meath - with extra time needed to decide the result. Yet Mulvihill, in his second year as manager, doesn't necessarily see this as the new generation of Longford footballers.

"St Mel's were always dominant in colleges football. They went through a bad patch in recent years but they did win four in succession in the late 1980s.

"So the underage talent has always been there. The problem that Longford always has is numbers. The broader pick at underage for the bigger counties is far greater, and for Dublin the pick they have compared to us must be quite phenomenal. So it's just we have a smaller band to pick from. And every so often we hit on a particularly good crop."

The burning question is whether this current crop will be good enough to beat Dublin. "Well these bunch of lads do have amazing self belief and determination. They will give it their best shot every time they go out on the field, and if it's not good enough to win it won't be for the want of trying.

"And we have the benefit of two tough games behind us, whereas maybe Dublin haven't really been tested yet."

A minor outbreak of flu in the Longford camp has forced Mulvihill to delay naming his team until later in the week. Dublin have also delayed their selection to give their injured players a few more days to prove their fitness.

The main concerns are defender Paul Griffin (ankle) and forward Bryan Cullen (hand), who picked up their injuries in the six-point win over Westmeath earlier this month.