James McCarthy says he has "unfinished business" with Dublin and hopes to “get another year or two” at inter-county level.
The eight-time All-Ireland winner turns 33 next March, but bar some hamstring issues, which contributed to “a messy year,” he is showing no signs of slowing up.
McCarthy was on top form as Dublin crashed out against Kerry in this year’s All-Ireland semi-final.
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The Ballymun Kickhams club man is currently carrying an injury problem that ruled him out of their most recent Championship game, but plans to get on to of his injury problems after the club season is over.
“I’m definitely planning on going back next season,” said McCarthy. “I think there is a bit of unfinished business still.
“I’m still enjoying my football, albeit it I had too many injuries this year but I’m still really enjoying the training, the competing and playing the games.
“You’ll be finished long enough, so I’ll try to get another year or two out of it if I can. That would be great.”
McCarthy continued: “I still think we can win an All-Ireland title. That’s the truth of it and that’s the goal for next season. We’ll be really going hard for it.
“Look, we haven’t been good enough the last two seasons - that’s a fact.
“We lost two (All-Ireland) semi-finals and we’ve been relegated from Division One.
“But, do I still think the group is good enough to compete for the highest honours? Absolutely. And we’d be hoping to drive that on for next season.”
McCarthy added that he is delighted that Dessie Farrell is staying on as Dublin manager.
2020 All-Ireland winning boss, Farrell recently agreed a fresh two year agreement with the Dublin County Board.
The Dubs have been beaten at the semi-final stage of the last two All-Irelands, after landing eight Sam Maguires in 10 years under Pat Gilroy, Jim Gavin and Farrell.
“First of all, our group are delighted Dessie is staying on,” said McCarthy.
“He’s been a great manager and coach, driving them on and he has a lot of experience with the group from managing them at underage and stuff.
“So there is that continuity and keeping trying to build on what we are doing.
“Obviously we are not happy with how last season went but I think we are building.
“I think we will be having as good a shot at a title next year as any other team in the country.
“So, it is trying to continue what we are doing, blood more players if we can and build up and make sure the Lee Ganons and Loran O’Dells get better and better each year.
“Fellas like myself should be trying to get better as well. There shouldn’t be a limit on what age you are where you can improve as a player.”
McCarthy doesn’t sugarcoat the impact of Con O’Callaghan’s loss to Dublin in their All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Kerry.
He continued: “Close but no cigar, as they say. Con was obviously a massive loss to us.
“You take Shane Walsh, Damien Comer, David Clifford or Sean O’Shea out of their teams then they would be different teams. It is no different for us.
“Con is a massive player for us, a massive big-game player and he was playing unbelievable football before he got hurt.
“He’s a big leader among the group as well, which people probably don’t understand, so he was a big loss for us.
“But even on that, I still think we could have won the game. But it’s in the history books now. That’s the way it is.
“On a positive, we probably had 20 new players in the squad the last two or three years.
“You saw the likes of Lee Gannon this year, Lorcan O’Dell, Tom Lahiff, and they are really shaping up well.
“The challenge now for them is to build on it and I’ll definitely be trying to drive them to do that and not rest on their laurels but get better every year.”
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