Coman Goggins believes Roscommon are "caught between a rock and a hard place" in figuring out how to approach tonight's Croke Park clash with Dublin.
Goggins lifted the Delaney Cup as Dublin skipper in 2002 but, with both parents from Roscommon, he had previously investigated the possibility of playing for the Rossies.
So he's well placed to assess the onerous task facing Anthony Cunningham's side after their damaging opening Super 8s loss to Tyrone.
"I think they've come a long way," said Goggins. "There were people talking about Leitrim possibly beating them in Connacht, but they collected a title that was unforeseen for them at the start.
"Anthony Cunningham has instilled a bit of steeliness in them that has been missing. But they lack a little bit of pace in certain areas of the field that leaves them a bit exposed.
"They certainly gave themselves an opportunity in the Tyrone game, but against Dublin you're coming up against a different animal.
"As was displayed against Cork, 'if you want to come up and leave the spaces open, we're happy with that, if you want to shut them down then we're happy to shut it down too'.
"So Roscommon are now caught between whether to go at Dublin like Cork did or try to sit back."
Without the same pace across their forward line as the Rebels, and the threat of top scorer Brian Hurley, Goggins believes Cunningham has his work cut out to get his tactics right.
Speaking to the AIB GAA podcast, Goggins said: "It's, 'we don't want to be the whipping boys in this group, but we don't want to sit back and not deliver'.
"Dublin will obviously feel there are aspects they want to improve on. I don't see Roscommon sitting back, I see them trying to attack this and then see what falls out of it."
The former Dubs defender also believes Jim Gavin has done the right thing by bringing Diarmuid Connolly back.
"If you keep doing the same things you'll run the risk of getting caught," he argued. "Diarmuid Connolly throws something new into the mix and maybe takes some of the heat off five in a row.
"Jim wouldn't have brought someone back if he didn't feel he had something to offer. His ultimate aim is to have the best guys available to him".
VERDICT
Without firing on all cylinders Dublin still emerged with a 13-point victory over Cork last week and, back at Croke Park for the second time in seven days, a repeat could well be on the cards.
Roscommon fought hard against Tyrone and will have to go up another level if they aren't going to wonder if they're experiencing deja vu from last year's Super 8s.
Twelve months ago Dublin cruised to a 4-24 to 2-16 victory and while the Rossies have improved defensively, you get the feeling the All-Ireland champions are ready to hit their stride.
If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
