MICKEY: DUBS WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH BURDEN OF

FORMER boss Mickey Whelan says that five-in-a-row “b ****** t” won’t derail Dublin as they chase history.

Jim Gavin’s side are poised to become the first team in GAA history to win five senior All-irelands in succession next year and Whelan, manager of the side from 1995-97 , can’t see them being stopped.

“No, I think they have a great chance of getting five-in-a-row,” he said.

“I don’t think they’re worried about that [making history]. They just take each year at a time. And they take it game by game.

“Counting your chickens before they’ve hatched doesn’t exist any more in Dublin.”

Would the hype accompanying five-ina-row not be that little bit more suffocating than that which went with their previous title tilts?

“B ****** t,” Whelan replied. “If you keep thinking about it, it’ll be noise in their brain. But they don’t.

“It’s just another Championship, simple as that. They’re not worried about it now, it’ll start when it starts and they’ll be ready for it.”

Whelan added: “When I stepped down, I told you guys they’d win four All-irelands but not in-a-row.

“There’s a lot of that team have won six. It was a great boost but they worked hard. We flogged them to change their mentality, they were soft.

“They’re a great crew, and Jim Gavin (above) has done a fabulous job.”

He added: “These guys go out expecting to win and it’s difficult to get people to get to that level. Winning builds that up. They’re not even thinking of the five-in-a-row.”