When the conversation turns to his preferred championship structure, Clare football selector Enda Coughlan quickly shows himself to be at one with the man who drafted him into the county’s backroom team little over a year after he’d hung up his boots.

Clare football’s injury crisis has robbed management of six first-team regulars for Sunday’s Munster championship semi-final against Cork.

Clare’s Enda Coughlan has been on the loneliest road since last summer.