The Kingdom 'have room for improvement' - Jack O'Connor
Kerry cruised to a comfortable 3-20 to 1-17 victory over Cavan at Fitzgerald Stadium on Saturday, but Jack O'Connor admitted more will be required of his charges in the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland SFC.
The Kingdom bounced back from their shock defeat to Meath as David Clifford bagged a hat-trick and 3-07 in total in this preliminary quarter final encounter.
However, several other goal chances went a begging, and their last-eight opponents – be they Armagh, Tyrone or Armagh – are far better equipped to punish such profligacy.
"You couldn't say it was a five-star performance or anything like that," O'Connor admitted in his post-match interview with RTÉ Sport. "We struggled a bit at times.
"We did a lot of the things we said we would do – we tackled well, and our work rate and attitude was decent.
"We were a bit frantic up front. We left a pile of scores after us and just forced it at times, going for goal when we could have tapped over a few points.
"There is a lot of room for improvement next weekend."
"It's something that we've been doing well all year – scoring goals.
"We got three, and we probably left another three or four after us, but the name of today's game was to get through it and gather the troops during the week and head for Croke Park, which we realise is a big task now against probably a Division 1 team.
"There is a lot of room for improvement, but I think that improvement might be in us."
Kerry welcomed a number of players back for the clash with Cavan, but injury issues continue to pose a problem for O'Connor.
Mike Breen was ruled out just before the game, while the returning Diarmuid O'Connor was injured at the throw-in.
"We got a few fellas back today. Unfortunately, it looks like we lost Diarmuid again there," the Kerry manager said.
"That's unfortunate, but we got Sean [O'Brien] and Brian Ó Beaglaoich back into the group, and they make a big difference. They're leaders."
Kerry Under-20 star Tomás Kennedy knocked over the final score of the game and O'Connor could look to lean more on the Kerins O'Rahilly's teenager.
"He's a very exciting young player," O'Connor enthused. "We just brought him in for a few sessions and he certainly has acquitted himself well.
"I'm delighted with him."
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