The Rock is ready to roll
He went over on an ankle in the last outing against Tipperary.
O’Sullivan came through a fitness test last night and was automatically selected in his customary full back position.
Donal Óg Cusack and Ronan Curran, both of whom missed the Tipp game, return for this crunch confrontation in the second phase of the competition. Cusack takes over the goalkeeping position from his understudy Martin Coleman, while Curran resumes at centre-back, with Tom Kenny reverting to right half back and John Gardiner teaming up with Paul Tierney at midfield.
Gardiner started in the half backline against Tipp, with Kenny and Adrian Coughlan forming the midfield partnership on that occasion.
Both Niall McCarthy and Joe Deane, who came on as substitutes in the second half of the Tipp game, will start.
McCarthy takes over the left half forward position vacated by Tierney with Deane coming in at left corner forward and Brendan Murphy switching to right corner forward in place of Kieran Murphy of Sarsfields.
Philip Maher returns to the Tipperary team for Sunday’s NHL clash with Clare at Cusack Park.
This will be Maher’s first game since last year’s league final defeat to Kilkenny when he tore his cruciate knee ligament and has since been recovering. since.
Maher lines out in his customary full-back position in a team which shows six changes from the side that drew with Cork.
Brendan Cummins resumes in goal while John Devane, full-back in Maher’s absence, moves to corner back in place of Colin Morrissey.
Diarmuid Fitzgerald replaces Hugh Moloney at left half-back, while Eddie Enright returns from injury to resume his partnership at midfield with Paul Kelly. In attack, Brian O’Meara and Lar Corbett come into the full-forward line in place of Noel Moloney and Eoin Kelly.
There are three changes on the Laois team, all in the half forward line, from the side which failed to Galway a fortnight ago, for the visit of Wexford to Portlaoise. Canice Coonan takes over from John Dunne at right half forward, David Cuddy leads the attack in place of Robert Jones, while there is a vacancy at left half forward awaiting a fitness report on Sean Dwyer.
David ‘Doc’ O’Connor has been handed the unusual role of centre-forward for Wexford. O’Connor comes in for Michael Jacob , with Barry Lambert and MJ Furlong, second-half substitutes in the defeat by Offaly, retained in the half-forward line to the exclusion of Barry Goff and the injured Rory McCarthy.
Two vacancies have been left in the half-back line in the hope that both Declan Ruth and Michael O’Leary will have recovered from hamstring injuries.
Dublin make four changes to their team to face Antrim in Sunday’s Allianz HL encounter at Parnell Park (3.30). With David Sweeney ruled out for seven weeks due to a broken hand and Liam Ryan unavailable for selection, manager Humphrey Kelleher has been forced to make change.
Kevin Flynn has been moved to midfield alongside Carl Meehan with Tommy Moore, Shane Martin and Michael Carton all returning to the attack. A vacancy has been left at full-forward.
CORK (SH v Galway): D. Óg Cusack; W. Sherlock, D. O’Sullivan, M. Prendergast; T. Kenny, R. Curran, S. Óg Ó hAilpín; J. Gardiner, P. Tierney; J. O’Callaghan, M. Byrne, N. McCarthy; B. Lombard, E. Collins, J. Deane.
DUBLIN (SH v Antrim): G Maguire; D Spain, S Perkins, S Daly; K Wilson, C Keaney, K Ryan; C Meehan, K Flynn; D Curtin, R Fallon, T Moore; S Martin, AN Other, M Carton.
WEXFORD (SH v Laois): D. Fitzhenry, C. Kehoe, D. Ryan, M. Travers, W. Doran, A N Other, A N Other, R. Stafford, A. Fenlon, B. Lambert, D. O’Connor, MJ. Furlong, M. Jordan, P. Carley, R. Jacob.
TIPPERARY (SH v Clare): B. Cummins; T. Costello, P. Maher, J. Devane; E. Corcoran, D. Fanning, D. Fitzgerald; E. Enright, P. Kelly; M. O’Leary, J. Carroll, B. Dunne; P. O’Brien, B. O’Meara, L. Corbett.
LAOIS (SH v Wexford): K. Galvin; L. Mahon, Patrick Cuddy, C. Cuddy; J. Fitzpatrick, Paul Cuddy, M. McEvoy; J. Young, J. Walsh; J. C. Coonan, D. Cuddy, AN Other; t. Fitzgerald, L. Tynan, D. Culleton.
Kilkenny have named an experimental side to commence the battle against relegation at Nowlan Park on Sunday against Offaly. Manager Brian Cody has named just six of the All Ireland winning team.
The only members of the All Ireland team included are Noel Hickey, JJ Delaney, Peter Barry, DJ Carey, Tommy Walsh, and Martin Comerford.
KILKENNY (SH v Offaly) PJ Ryan; M Phelan, N Hickey, JJ Delaney; K Coogan, P Barry, B Hogan; P Tennyson, J Tyrrell, DJ Carey, C Phelan, T Walsh, J Fitzpatrick, M Comerford, A Fogarty.
