Paul Croft is back in the Dublin team to face Laois in Sunday's Leinster football semi-final at Croke Park. His inclusion is the only change to the team which defeated Louth earlier this month.

Dual player Shane Ryan, who hurled in the championship against Wexford at the end of May and for the county under-21s last Wednesday, is the player to lose out.

The selection is something of a surprise as Croft only completed a three-month suspension last weekend. He served the punishment after being sent off for kicking in a National Football League divisional match against Cork in Pairc Ui Rinn.

In the aftermath of the incident, Dublin manager Tom Carr was unequivocal in his judgement. "He will suffer personally," said Carr at the time. "He had made a place on the team his own and he has lost it as and from today."

Obviously no-one else has made a sufficiently plausible case for being allocated the role and Croft returns at right wing back.

Paul Curran moves into the centre-back position with Keith Galvin remaining on the left.

Ryan's exclusion is also a surprise. He had been commended by Carr after the match but more prophetically, had needed to be moved from his original centre back posting after only 20 minutes of the Louth match.

Although it is denied that the move is a statement against dual players - county secretary John Costello said: "We happily released him for the under-21 match" - it is believed that the management feel Ryan, who was excellent in the National Football League campaign, is a little jaded at present.

It will be argued that Ryan's best displays came in the full-back line and that he might have been switched to corner back instead of the veteran Paddy Moran, who struggled at times in the first round.

There is a double risk involved in the selection: one, that Croft may experience acclimatisation problems after his long lay-off and two, Paul Curran may not prove the answer to the centre back position as it is a role in which he hasn't always looked comfortable.

Ian Robertson, the season's original centre back, remains at full forward where he made a fair impact against Lout, scoring one goal and creating another for Mick O'Keeffe. Captain Des Farrell reverts to right corner forward where he started the last day although he spent most of the match on the 40 after Jim Gavin was taken off concussed.

Laois, meanwhile, also make just one change. Mick Lawlor, who was replaced at half-time by Tom Kelly, is dropped, with Kelly starting on the left wing. The other main talking point of the selection is the inclusion of dual player Declan Rooney at full back.

There had been a slight concern about his availability after injury ruled him out of last weekend's championship mauling which Laois hurlers received from Kilkenny. Although there were fears that a chronic ankle injury had again flared up, manager Tom Cribbin was confident all week that Rooney would play.

The team shows the influence of the county's recent successes at under-age level, with seven of the team which reached last year's under-21 All-Ireland final starting on Sunday. It will be the first meeting between the counties at this level since Dublin won in Navan four years ago en route to the county's most recent Leinster and All-Ireland titles.

Laois have to go back 28 years to locate their previous championship victory over Dublin, achieved back in June 1971 in Dr Cullen Park Carlow.

Meanwhile it has emerged that Cork hurling manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy has escaped with a warning after encroaching on the pitch during the Munster semi-final with Waterford at Thurles on June 13th.

The Games Administration Committee of the GAA now has responsibility for all disciplinary matters and according to Sean O Laoire, secretary of the GAC, Barry-Murphy was "cautioned as to his future conduct".

It is believed that previous good conduct in this area was taken into account. The Munster hurling championship has been something of a battleground on this front in recent times with several mentors running foul of the Munster Council when it had jurisdiction in the matter.

Last year both Clare manager Ger Loughnane and his Waterford counterpart Gerald McCarthy were banished to the stands for All-Ireland semi-finals at Croke Park. This year, Waterford selectors Shane Ahearne and Greg Fives suffered a similar fate for the Cork match a fortnight ago.

Cork qualified to meet Clare in the Munster under-21 hurling semi-final with a comprehensive 2-15 to 2-10 win over Limerick at Bruff last night. The final scoreline flatters Limerick, whose goals came from substitute Colm Hickey and Davy Ryan in the last seven minutes. One of Cork's goals came from full back Pat O'Sullivan, who blasted home from a penalty. Cork had a player sent off six minutes into the second half.