With pressure off, four-time All-Star Michael Cleary expects Tipperary to perform

“I think the Waterford game last year was a huge blow to Tipperary hurling."

Tipperary manager Liam Cahill, right, and selector Michael Bevans during the closing moments of the Munster SHC defeat to Cork. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Tipperary’s two-time All-Ireland SHC winner Michael Cleary expects the team to produce their best display of the championship against Clare on Sunday.

Like Waterford last year, they head into a final round game in Thurles with nothing to play for in 2024, only pride, but possibly the future of some inter-county players and the management too. As Waterford selector Peter Queally recently admitted, beating Tipperary 12 months ago in a so-called dead rubber saved Davy Fitzgerald’s position.