John O'Leary has no doubt that Dublin will have the physical capacity to lift themselves seven days after the Leinster final defeat to Meath. But that's not to say there won't be psychological problems.

The former goalkeeper and current team selector is confident that fitness and freshness will not be a factor when Dublin return to Croke Park for their first experience with the qualifier series. Sligo may have had an extra week to prepare but there will still be springs in the heels of Dublin when they hit the field on Sunday.

"I certainly don't subscribe to the argument that players can't recover in six or seven days," says O'Leary. "This idea of having physical difficulties coming back a week later is not an issue for us. These players train all year and they are fit enough. To them it's just about playing football because that's all they want to do.

"But the real battle on Sunday is going to be psychological. We trained twice this week and everyone seemed to be fine but you just never know. You can give them encouragement and they can seem to be getting over it. But it isn't much time to get over the psychological blow of losing a Leinster final."

The four-game marathon between Dublin and Meath in 1991 was an obvious talking point before the sides met in last weekend's Leinster final. How could the sides lift themselves for four games in six weeks, we asked? The task now is a little different.

"Back in 1991 we didn't have any problems lifting ourselves for the next game but you have to remember as well that we hadn't lost. This is a different situation. We managed to come through Sunday's game relatively injury free except for a few minor knocks, and that helps, but you don't know how the players are going to recover psychologically from losing such a hard game."

The fact that so many people were saying that last Sunday was a game Dublin should have won may also be a factor. Even Seβn Boylan seemed lost for an explanation, admitting straight afterwards that he didn't know how his side had won.

"Well that can actually make it worse. We had the opportunity to win and missed those five or six chances at the end and that can actually make the defeat more difficult to get over. If you're heavily beaten then you have a better idea what went wrong but when it's close like that then it's more difficult to know."

O'Leary also admits that Sligo will be far from easy opposition, especially with the momentum of their current run. They managed to beat Dublin in the last league meeting and they had a few rough challenge games in recent years as well. He's been impressed by what he's seen of them this summer.

"I've watched the videos of their last two occasions. They definitely conceded a soft goal to Mayo in the Connacht championship and that was a game they should have won. And their performance against Kildare showed how tough they are. They were down a man and finished the game off with some great scoring.

"And I don't believe all this talk about the qualifiers not benefiting the weaker counties. These matches have given them a great chance to make a breakthrough and opens great possibilities to go further. We've seen that now with Sligo."

Nor will Sligo be strangers to Croke Park: "We saw them come up here and beat Kildare, and in recent years Kildare have had a better record in Croke Park than we've had. They are a strong tough side and they are going to be difficult.

"And it's definitely one to look forward to. If we had this chance last year we would have jumped at it and we're going to do that on Sunday. There's no doubt that these qualifiers have enhanced the whole championship and we've seen that in the way the crowds have come out."