The Clare man signed up for a one-year extension last October and may seek a similar deal in the autumn, although he was certainly not going to rush into a decision after the disappointing 1-24 to 1-19 defeat.

"We'll go away and talk about it. This is never the time to make a decision. Let's see the way things are in the next few weeks," he said.

"We feel disappointed and heavy-hearted at times like this, but maybe in a few weeks we'll be able to look back on it with a bit of satisfaction."

The 43-year-old from Clarecastle has enjoyed a number of breakthrough successes with Dublin including that elusive Leinster Championship crown, a first Allianz League Division 1 title since 1939 and Walsh Cup and Shield wins.

But their 'near misses' have been particularly tough to take - most notably the All-Ireland semi-final losses to Tipperary (2011) and Cork (2013), along with Leinster final reversals to Kilkenny in 2009 and 2011.

The 2014 season will at least see the Dubs playing top flight hurling in the league after edging out Limerick to the promotion spot in Division 1B, while Dublin GAA chief Andy Kettle is hopeful of Daly patrolling the sideline for the county's defence of the Leinster Championship.

"The subject (of his managerial future) wasn't even broached apart from Anthony's reference in the (post-match) media conference - that there'd probably be more people lining up to take Dublin on than there were when he took over," Kettle told the Irish Times.

"There's no hurry and the management can take its' time and depending on that the county committee will dot the i's and cross the t's. But do we hope that he'll stay? Absolutely."

Despite Dublin crashing out at the penultimate stage of the All-Ireland race, midfielder John McCaffrey is adamant the that current regime - with Daly assisted in his management team by Richie Stakelum, Shane Martin and Ciarán Hetherton - can build a renewed challenge for Championship silverware next term.

Insisting that the majority of the playing panel should remain intact also, the Lucan Sarsfields clubman said: "From the players' point of view, there's no one too old or that and everyone will be mad for road again. I hope obviously that the management will stay on as well.

"I'm sure they're not going to be saying anything now but everyone knows from the players' point of view how well we think of them and we're hopeful that everyone in the dressing room will stay together."

McCaffrey, who made his SHC debut against Westmeath in 2006, knows this Dublin side cannot slacken off and need to consistently deliver performances and results if they are to remain All-Ireland contenders for next season and beyond.

In 2012, the Dubs looked a shadow of the side that won the league and reached the All-Ireland's last-four the previous year. So, the Metropolitans know the pressure will be on to avoid a similar slump come 2014.

"We've got to push on this time. We're a year older too so hopefully we've learned from 2012 in terms of what we want to do in 2014," admitted the Dublin skipper.

"We'll take the defeat hard for the next couple of weeks and think things over. But we know we've progressed. We're hopeful that we can be back here in 12 months' time at this stage again."