Limerick boss Kiely on Kilkenny: 'Incredibly hard working, very accurate, very efficient'

Limerick are bookies’ favourites to beat the Cats on Sunday, 3.30pm, but they know that they will face an almighty challenge from Derek Lyng's side.

The Limerick senior hurlers' bid for a fourth All-Ireland title on the trot has cranked up another gear with the final against Kilkenny at Croke Park now less than a week away. John Kiely's charges will have two further training sessions in preparation for Sunday's clash as they bid to for a fifth Liam MacCarthy Cup win in six years.

Ahead of the game, Kiely said that his side will be firmly focused on what they have to do rather than worrying about the opposition. However, Kiely knows what to expect from the side they beat in last year's All-Ireland final.

“From a team perspective, they are incredibly hard working. They are a very accurate team. Very efficient and they have an instinct for goal. I think you could have said that about all the Kilkenny teams over the last 25 years," he said.

“Their response to that challenge that came from Clare is a warning to us. We will bear that in mind and have it in the back our mind that the response is there and they have that capacity.

“The improvements on the Kilkenny side are for them to be worrying about. My focus is on the boys that I have and trying to find our improvements. We don’t worry about the performance of the opposition.

“Our focus is firmly on ourselves, our performances and being a better team the next day. We know exactly what we need to go after. We know ourselves that there are aspects of our performance in the last game that we need to improve on.”

It is not the first time that Limerick and Kilkenny will have met in a final this year when they face off on Sunday. The sides also met in the Allianz Hurling League Final but the game is likely to bear no resemblance to the one that saw Limerick earn a 2-20 to 0-16 victory at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in early April.