Hi °C | Lo °C
Dublin football manager Jim Gavin is adamant that his players are "under no illusions" about where he stands on discipline ahead of the start of the Allianz Football League on Saturday night.
Gavin's men take on Cork in the second of the Croke Park double bill that gets the league under way, but will be without experienced midfielder Denis Bastick, who was sent off on a straight red card in Saturday's O'Byrne Cup final defeat to Kildare.
Leinster Council have confirmed that Bastick will have a four-week ban proposed because the O'Byrne Cup and pre-season provincial competitions still apply suspensions based on a period of time rather than a number of games.
If the same incident happened this Saturday, Bastick would probably be banned for just one game, as match bans are still on trial in league and championship games.
But he will also miss the trip to Kerry on the following weekend if he accepts the proposed punishment or doesn't have it reversed at a hearing.
Gavin admitted to being disappointed with Bastick after Saturday's game but also questioned the build-up to the incident as a Dublin player had his jersey blatantly pulled by Kildare's Seanie Johnston.
Ironically the Laois referee Eddie Kinsella, who Gavin predicted would come under the scrutiny of his assessor for his performance on Saturday night, has been placed in charge of this weekend's game.
Dublin endured a torrid time on the disciplinary front during last year's league, with red cards and suspensions mounting up, but Gavin says his players know where he stands on discipline.
"The players are under no illusions. What happened in the past is in the past," he said.
