Davy Fitzgerald relishing Kilkenny assignment

As Davy Fitzgerald plans for a Division 1 semi-final against Kilkenny, the Clare manager has dismissed Ger Loughnane’s assessment of the reigning All-Ireland champions as merely “functional”.

“Ger will say stuff and that’s fine. I could never question what he says – he has been a great man to us. It doesn’t mean I’ll agree with everything he says, so it doesn’t. I would call Kilkenny a lot better than ‘functional’. You don’t win All-Irelands, as we know, being an average team. They are an unbelievable team. The bar is set with them. We respect that.

“Will we want to beat them? Of course, we want to beat them. But give them credit where credit is due. From the Clare management and backroom team, we see things differently as to how Kilkenny are. We respect what they’ve done. By God, we’re looking forward to a challenge against them.”