Dowd explains thinking behind changes to team selection against Dublin

Mark Dowd has confirmed that goalkeeper Aaron Brady wasn’t injured for Sunday’s 11-point defeat against Dublin at King and Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park.

Brady’s exclusion was a surprise given his performances between the sticks in Roscommon’s opening four league games.

The return of Brady’s replacement and first cousin, Conor Carroll, was one of four changes to the named starting 15, with Carroll’s team-mates Ruaidhrí Fallon and Conor Hand deputising for the injured Conor Ryan and Darragh Heneghan, while Colm Neary came in for Niall Higgins.

“No, Aaron wasn’t injured. No more than anyone else, Conor has been putting up his hand at training. I felt he deserved a go at it. Everyone’s place is up for grabs.

“I have to commend the guys for the way they’ve been training over the last couple of weeks. Guys who put their hands up during the week got their chance.

“We felt that the lads we picked were ready to come in today. We had seen it in training. We were happy with the way they were going. I was asked the question about certain players before, and they weren’t ready then. They were ready this week.

“I’m not going to put the blame (for losing the game) on the changes that were made today. When you have a team like Dublin coming down here wanting to get out of the bottom half of the table against a team that have won three games, maybe the mentality is a bit different,” he said.