Former Donegal captain Michael Murphy believes that the current Derry side under Mickey Harte has a better chance of winning All-Ireland than everybody's favourite pick of Dublin.
Dublin ran riot against Tyrone in a Croke Park mauling last weekend. Dublin's 5-18 to 0-12 win has enhanced people's belief that Dessie Farrell's troops are best placed to win another All-Ireland crown in 2024.
However, Murphy of Donegal believes that Derry's belief will give them the edge over the reigning All-Ireland champions this year.
"Dublin are ominous... but if somebody was to say to me, right now, potentially [an] All-Ireland [prediction]? I would be... I know it's a sticky one but I would be going towards Derry," he said
"I think [they have] all the pieces.
"I keep going back to that Kerry game last year. As a team, knowing them Derry players, in the back of their heads they're thinking to themselves now, "We belong in this top echelon."
Murphy also believes that Derry are cut above the likes of Kerry, Mayo, and Galway but lie in the same tier as Dublin. He thinks that Derry will be on a mission this year and because of that, Derry Sam Maguire's win is a more realistic prediction for the Donegal native.
Dublin , Ireland - 24 February 2024; Joe O'Connor of Kerry in action against Brian Fenton of Dublin during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. (Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)"They've been at Division One, and they've performed there; they've excelled there. They're at the top of the tree; I think they belong there.
"I just think the next natural step for them is towards that All-Ireland series.
"What we're doing is comparing them against Kerry, comparing them against Galway, and comparing them against Mayo. To me, they check more boxes than those teams do at the moment.
"Do Dublin tick those same boxes as Derry? 100%, they do. But I just think there's a mission there for this Derry team."
Dublin takes on Derry this Sunday in the Division One football final at Croke Park this weekend, and Harte was asked about the prospect of facing Dublin in Croke Park. The Tyrone native admits that teams playing this Dublin side face a scary challenge.
“I think that's maybe their way of letting people know that the six-in-a-row team isn’t exactly the six-in-a-row team but watch out what's coming," he added
“I think that's what they're saying. They’re making a statement of intent here again. Because people were tending to say that a lot—those older statesmen are gone, and Dublin are not what they used to be.
“They had to take that for a while and I think they weren't too enamoured about that. I think they are firing back and saying, "Just take care what you say about us because we’ll show you we’re not a spent force."
Dublin takes on Derry this Sunday in the Division One football final at Croke Park at 4 pm. The match is being shown live on TG4 and will also be streamed live on the TG4 Player.
