By Cian O'Connell

Dublin manager Mattie Kenny remains optimistic despite Sunday's Allianz Hurling League Division 1B loss against Galway.

It was a disappointing defeat for Dublin, who were overpowered by Galway at Pearse Stadium.

Though Dublin have introduced a raft of young players in the past couple of years Kenny still believes they can deliver now, not just in the future. “When you’re in this game, you’re always getting ready for the next game," Kenny says. 

"Coming down, we wanted a better performance than we gave. There’s probably a number of contributory factors why that didn’t happen, but we’ve got to identify them, try to resolve them and move on. 

“Playing Galway here, it was something I welcomed because that’s where you’re going to find out exactly where you’re at."

Next on the agenda for Dublin is another demanding assignment against Waterford at Parnell Park. “Galway are All-Ireland champions from 2017, they are one of the top two sides - you are playing one of the best teams in Ireland," Kenny says. 

"That’s the standard that we’ve got to get to. Any time you lose, you’re a bit disappointed. When you come down to Galway, playing one of the best teams in Ireland in their home patch, hopefully they will learn something from it and it will stand to us as the year goes on.” 

Kenny also confirmed that Conal Keaney won't be available in the short term due to a shoulder problem.

“He’s still a good few weeks away," Kenny states. "He had a pretty serious shoulder injury. You've the likes of Conal, Mark Schutte, Cian Boland, Paul Ryan, Paul Winters, all these guys are coming back into training now. 

"Hopefully, as we go on into March and into April, a lot of these lads will becoming available to us.”