While Derry today are full of hope, it was the end of the road for Monaghan yesterday as their brave effort fell short against Dublin.

Monaghan stayed with the Dubs all the way until the Leinster kingpins pulled away in the closing stages, with Dean Rock's late goal adding a flattering gloss to the scoreline.

Here's how Dublin's win unfolded.

John Haughey
BBC Sport NI at Croke Park

And yes, there's a cacophony of cheers as the Oak Leafers emerge but I reckon there are a lot of Derry fans who have yet to make their way into headquarters.

Kerry assistant coach Michael Quirke is expecting Derry to be "a step up" from the Tyrone side that the Kingdom ruthlessly swatted aside a couple of weeks ago.

"They're Ulster champions two years in a row, they've given Tyrone a good trimming when they played them [last year] so we know they are a big step up, and their game plan is a little bit more evolved," Quirke told our reporter Orla Bannon.

"We want to dictate the game on our terms. We want to play the game at pace and tempo and not allow Derry to do that.

"They're a really hard counter-attacking team that defend in numbers, and break at pace, and that kind of football presents different kind of challenges to what maybe we are used to traditionally."

Thoughts from the Kerry camp coming up...

Oisin McConville
Armagh All-Ireland winner on BBC Sport

Yesterday whetted the appetite. We'd be happy if we get something similar today. Who'd have thought Monaghan would push Dublin so far but there's just something about that Dublin team.

John Haughey
BBC Sport NI at Croke Park

Kerry are out on the pitch some 30 minutes before throw-in. It's fairly muted applause from the small looking contingent of Kingdom fans. I'm expecting a lot more noise when the Derry players emerge from the tunnel in a minute.

Image source, Getty Images

Derry manager Ciaran Meenagh wasn't giving too much away about what his team's approach will be today when he had a quick word with our own Orla Bannon on the Oak Leaf team's arrival at Croke Park.

Asked whether Derry will keep it tight or try and attack this Kerry side, Meenagh replied: "We're going to try and do both.

"We're gonna see how the game goes - that will dictate what we do.

"We're under no illusions of the task we face with Kerry so there has to be an element of remaining in the game as well but how the game goes will dictate what we do.

"They have a great goalkeeper, really strong midfield, defenders that can score and a couple of decent forwards as well that need watching so they're a difficult proposition.

"In terms of our build-up, we're focused on ourselves. We're confident in our own ability and we feel we're going to be a match for the Kingdom today."

Time to get some pre-match thoughts from both camps...

With the possibility of late changes, let's get stuck into team news right away.

And it's easy enough as both management teams have named unchanged starting line-ups from their quarter-final wins.

Match-ups, as ever, will be key. Which Derry player will be detailed to mark David Clifford? Chrissy McKaigue looks a safe bet.

Kerry: Shane Ryan; Graham O'Sullivan, Jason Foley, Tom O'Sullivan; Paul Murphy, Tadhg Morley, Gavin White; Diarmuid O'Connor, Jack Barry; Dara Moynihan, Sean O'Shea, Adrian Spillane; Paudie Clifford, David Clifford, Paul Geaney.

Subs: Shane Murphy, Tony Brosnan, Mike Breen, Brian O Beaglaoich, Ruairi Murphy, Micheal Burns, Stephen O'Brien, Donal O'Sullivan, Dylan Casey, Sean O'Brien.

Derry: Odhran Lynch; Chrissy McKaigue, Eoin McEvoy, Conor McCluskey; Conor Doherty, Gareth McKinless, Padraig McGrogan; Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers; Niall Toner, Paul Cassidy, Ethan Doherty; Ciaran McFaul, Shane McGuigan, Niall Loughlin.

Subs: Thomas Mallon, Declan Cassidy, Benny Heron, Shea Downey, Lachlan Murray, Ben McCarron, Paul McNeill, Padraig Cassidy, Conleth McGuckian, Mark Doherty, Diarmuid Baker.

It's Sunday.

It's the second All-Ireland semi-final.

Let's do this.

John Haughey
BBC Sport NI at Croke Park

Image source, Inpho

When Derry in Vinny Corey's words "outclassed" his Monaghan team in the Ulster Football semi-final on 29 April, I don't think I was the only one that believed we had seen this year's likely All-Ireland champions in action that day.

But the Oak Leaf soon had to cope with the loss of their micro-managing supremo Rory Gallagher amid all the headlines of those extraordinary days.

Derry still managed to win the Ulster Final on penalties against a luckless Armagh but their form was several notches below what they had produced against the Farney men.

The Oak Leafers were decidedly flat as they drew with Monaghan in their Super 16s opener and while their displays since then have been efficient, they have not been able to recapture the form of that late April day at Healy Park.

Can they regain that swagger and intensity that characterised their Spring and early championship contests?

The bookies don't think so with Kerry 1/3 favourites but Monaghan rattled huge favourites Dublin in yesterday's first semi-final and Derry will believe that they are a more accomplished outfit than the Farney men.