IT WILL BE HEAVY MEDAL FOOTBALL

Harte’s ready for Dubs to deliver message loud & clear

MICKEY HARTE is expecting to see Dublin’s “serious operators with two pockets full of medals” in this weekend’s Division 1 decider at Croke Park.

Harte believes Dublin are using this current campaign to send out “a statement of intent” to the pretenders to their throne.

Dessie Farrell’s men have been awesome at home in Croke Park over the past month, beating Kerry by 10 points and trouncing Tyrone by 21 points.

They were just as good in Galway, emerging 0-22 to 0-14 victors in a game they never looked in danger of losing at any point.

Harte agrees they look a scary prospect right now.

“They do, they do,” he said. “I think that’s maybe their way of letting people know to watch out what’s coming.

“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 with 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’.”

The two sides fought out ‘a phoney war’ at Celtic Park three weeks ago, with Derry resting key men and Dublin without a raft of regulars.

“Well we didn’t put out the best team that we had,” said Harte.

“It was kind of a precaution because number one, if you put out your best team, there’s no guarantee we’d win anyway,

“But if you did win then this unbeaten run is on in the League.

“The talk is on because you won four games in a row that big things will happen and all of that – and there isn’t the substance to be saying that if you’ve sense.

“So I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world that we didn’t win that game. I think it helps us to be where we are today.”

Harte is expecting to face Dublin’s best this weekend.

“They have a kind of habit of doing that when they used to meet Tyrone,” he said.

“They didn’t bring out anything but the best.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the serious operators with two pockets full of medals appear again.

That’s it. But that’s the luxury they have.”

In their current mood, few would relish the prospect of facing Dublin at Croke Park.

A defeat like Tyrone suffered would be a major blow to Derry’s plans.

“It certainly would if we went away with that kind of margin,” said Harte.

“It wouldn’t be a good place to be but I don’t think that is going to be the case.”