Kearns issues holy orders for Derry tie
Kearns and his crew will be in championship action for the third successive week, hoping their two Munster final exertions against his native Kerry have not taken too great a toll, mentally or physically.
Despite the disappointments of the past fortnight, Kearns was in a defiant mood last night.
"This week has been all about recovery. We've done no training of consequence since the Munster final.
"We'll travel to Roscommon this afternoon, have a run out on Hyde Park and hope for the best after that," said Kearns.
"After what we've been through we deserve a change of luck. The two games against Kerry were emotionally and physically draining and I hope the lads have something left in the tank.
"Tomorrow is another massive match for us. If the lads are physically able to do it, I know they will, but with only six days from last Sunday, it's asking a lot. Defeated finalists should get a fortnight to recover.
"Having said that I expect the character of my players to come through. I know and they know we left the Munster title behind us twice. The effort we put in deserves something from the season, and if there's a God up there, we deserve to get to Croke Park.
"That is what we will be playing for tomorrow and it would be some consolation if we were to win and get to headquarters where I would fancy our chances against any of the provincial winners.
"However, we cannot look beyond Derry tomorrow. They have recovered well from that heavy defeat by Tyrone in the Ulster championship and they are very confident of taking us.
"But if Derry think we are going to roll over, they can think again. No one can question Limerick's character, commitment or their football.
"There is no championship history between the counties, which is probably a good thing, in that neither county can point to tradition or experience. We've achieved as much as they have over the last five years, so we've nothing to fear.
"Limerick have put it up to Kerry three times this year and the word back from that county is they don't want to see us again for the rest of the season. "Wouldn't it be ironic if we were to meet again in Croke Park?"
Kearns admits their past qualifier experiences have been painful.
"Twelve months ago we went into the All-Ireland qualifier against Armagh badly hit by injuries following the Munster final and paid the price. We don't have any problems of that nature this time around.
"Players like Jason Stokes and Stephen Lavin are only playing their third championship game this season, while John Galvin and Conor Fitzgerald didn't play in the League.
"It would be fair to say that we have players who are only getting into their stride now.
"We are going into tomorrow's match far fresher than we were last year against Armagh, and that should be a huge help to us."
Not unexpectedly Kearns has given a vote of confidence to the 15 which started against Kerry in last Sunday's provincial final replay, for tomorrow's qualifier, confident in the knowledge that they have what it takes to keep their season alive for another couple of weeks at least.
S. O'Donnell; M. O' Riordan, J. McCarthy, T. Stack; C. Mullane, S. Lucey, S. Lavin; J. Quane, J. Galvin; S. Kelly, M. Gavin, J. Stokes; M. O'Brien, E. Keating, C. Fitzgerald.
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