By Michael Devlin

Dublin manager Jim Gavin gave no inclination as to when, if even, we will see the returning Diarmuid Connolly in action for the remainder of the season in the wake of his side’s comfortable win over Roscommon on Saturday night.

Gavin announced last week that double All-Star Connolly, who spent last summer playing football in the United States but was unable to do so again this year, had been back training with the Dublin squad. He has not played for Dublin since the 2017 All-Ireland final, and the possibility of his return to the setup has been a topic of much speculation since.

Connolly wasn’t named in the 26-man panel for the Roscommon game however, and speaking to the media after the game Gavin was not forthcoming as to whether or not he will play a part in Dublin’s quest for a fifth consecutive Sam Maguire. Instead, he insisted that any player has a chance to make it onto the Dublin panel, based on form.

“I think we’ve been consistent with saying that any player who is playing well with the club and who wants to come back into the squad, if they are invited they’ll always be welcome. We were out looking at games on Wednesday night, obviously took an interest in the U20 game last [Friday] night, there was some good performances there too. So it’s very much an open door policy.”

Veteran Bernard Brogan was named in the match day squad for the first time in this Championship campaign, but was awarded no game time in Dublin’s 18-point annihilation of Roscommon.

Dean Rock was restored to the starting line-up, having been kept on the sidelines by the inform Cormac Costello so far this year, and he staked a claim with 1-11 of Dublin’s overall haul. James McCarthy and Jonny Cooper also made returns from injury to the Dublin 15.

“Any player in the squad has a chance of making the match day squad and making it onto the field of play,” said Gavin.

“There’s great competition in the squad for places, and they’ll always play their part in whatever part we ask them to play. Good to see the guys that finished the game today finishing strong, the players that didn’t get game they will be hungry to get back to training next week.”

Saturday’s win booked Dublin’s place in the last four of the competition, another objective achieved for Gavin, and Tyrone’s victory over Cork earlier in the afternoon means that top spot in the group is the only prize on offer in next Sunday’s clash in Omagh.

“We’re very satisfied,” said Gavin. “The objective was to get the two points this evening, we’ve achieved that. I though the players showed great respect and humility coming into the game, I thought the preparation was excellent. We know Roscommon very well now over the last couple of years, we know the potential they have.

“Any time we’ve played Tyrone, they’ve been great games in recent times. We played them back in March, they are a very strong side, an outstanding team with an outstanding manager. We’ll prepare as best we can in that game and give it our best shot.

“The value we put on is that any time the guys take to the field to represent Dublin in their county jersey, we expect that they do their very best. So our focus is now on that Tyrone game.”