Ref won’t influence Fitzmaurice tactics

Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice insists the Kingdom’s tactics for Sunday week’s All-Ireland football decider will not be influenced by the selection of match officials.

The referee for the game will be announced next Monday, with Laois’ Eddie Kinsella and Marty Duffy of Sligo the front-runners to take charge. Duffy was in the middle when Kerry last lifted the Sam Maguire back in 2009.

“No, not really,” said Fitzmaurice when quizzed if the choice of referee would dictate their style of play. “All referees have a style. Some might leave it go more than others. Others might be a bit fussier. We are still trying to play the game the same way.

“You might be conscious a certain referee will have a pet hate, a technical foul in particular they might focus in on. I don’t think there is that much of a difference between the top referees.”

While again ruling out Colm Cooper’s availability for the clash with Donegal, the manager believes the attacker has an important role to play at training over the next fortnight.

“He hasn’t been around this week. He was around Tuesday night. He was working in Dublin on Thursday and Saturday. He will be back down to us Tuesday night. He has been doing the warm-ups with us. If we needed someone to kick ball in to a conditioned game, he has been doing that. He is very vocal around the place in terms of helping lads. He will have the same role, an important role. While of course because of his injury he is no longer captain, he is still our captain in a way.”

Fitzmaurice reported a clean bill of health for the final and is confident the clash of colours will not prove overly troublesome.

“I think the only issue is if you are playing into the Hill 16 end when it will be all green and gold on the day and you are looking in trying to pick out a player. It is a small issue, hopefully it won’t cause trouble.”

He added: “There is nothing major injury wise. The lads who have been struggling the last couple of weeks have been making good progress. Darran O’Sullivan will be back full training Tuesday night. Stephen O’Brien returned to full training on Saturday. Thankfully there isn’t much of an injury update. For an All-Ireland final all bets are off. Lads that are 90, 95% will be pushing themselves through the pain barrier.”