PHILLY MCMAHON SAID that Dublin cannot be distracted by the daunting prospect of facing Aidan O’Shea.
The Mayo star has been terrorising defences since his move to full-forward and turned in another towering performance in the quarter-final win over Donegal.
His goal was a frightening blend of power and precision — but McMahon hasn’t seen the Breaffy beast in action yet this season.
“It’s hard enough playing football every week and the pressures on your wives and girlfriends,” the All-Ireland winning defender said.
“When you have a day off, you try to spend it with them.
“So no, I didn’t get a chance to watch (Mayo v Donegal). I went out and did a bit of shopping that day with the girlfriend.
I haven’t seen Aidan O’Shea playing this year. You’ll have to send me those clips on!
O’Shea also had a field day in the Connacht final against Sligo, scoring 3-4, and has marked himself out as a leading contender for Footballer of the Year.
But McMahon wants Dublin to focus on their own game ahead of the semi-final clash on 30 August.
“We just have to look after ourselves,” he added.
“We’re confident in the footballers we have in our own full-back line, me being one of them. I’d like to think I’m competent to mark whoever I can in Ireland.
We look after ourselves and whatever we do in terms of our preparation and we look at all the different ways and systems that we’ll be coming up against. That’s all we can do. If we start looking at anyone else, we lose our own focus.
“The next couple of weeks will be about what can I do personally and what will I possibly come up against.”