They’re officially the second best team in Leinster, based on Allianz league rankings at least, but Kildare defender Eoin Doyle has admitted they still have huge ground to make up on pacesetters Dublin, writes Paul Keane.

Westmeath and Meath are the counties that have done most to push Dublin in Leinster championship terms in recent seasons, contesting the last five provincial finals, though Kildare appear to have edged past both based this spring.

The Lilies have returned to Division 1 football with a talented young team, the average age of which is 23, and appear well placed to capitalise on their three Leinster minor title wins in the last four seasons.

“We are all chasing Dublin, there is no two ways about it,” said Doyle. “We are all in the same boat, all trying to improve and to catch up.

“I think every team in Leinster is judged by Dublin’s standards and I would always say that teams in Leinster are behind Dublin, there is no doubt about it. We are trying to catch up and to get to where they are but there aren’t too many teams in the country who are at Dublin’s level either.

“I do think maybe we should be closer than we are. In fact, we definitely should be closer than we are but we are working hard to put that right.

“I think it’s definitely great for the younger lads that we’re up in Division 1 now, to get that exposure to the high quality games, week-in, week-out. That can’t be a bad thing, getting them into it, getting them used to it. I can only see that as a positive.”

Kildare made wholesale changes for last weekend’s Round 7 clash with Galway, a game they lost by a point. The changes were partly with a view to keeping the squad of players happy, as promotion was already secured, and partly with Sunday’s Division 2 final against the same opposition in mind.

“It was good to see the lads that came in did well and did the job they were asked to do, what lads before them had been doing,” said Doyle. “That just breeds a bit of confidence that we have the players to come into the setup and that we have the players to jump in if anyone isn’t there.”