Waterford game won't trouble Tipp too much, says Tom McGlinchey

Waterford are building towards the 2018 Munster Football Championship opener against Tipperary off the back of a somewhat underwhelming League campaign, finishing in seventh position in Division 4.

The Premier, on the other hand, are continuing their rise under Liam Kearns, and were right in the mix for promotion to Division 1 until the end of the campaign, as they lost away to Cavan by a single point.

Given the rise in fortunes for Tipp and Clare, Munster is no longer the Cork-Kerry duopoly it once was. But for Waterford, it leaves them far behind their provincial neighbours. Speaking to Sky Sports, manager Tom McGlinchey conceded it is a difficult environment for the Déise:

"Tipp and Clare are now established Division 2 teams.Tipperary probably should have qualified for Division 1, and I know Clare will probably look at the two draws they had in the Division 2 campaign, and that could have put them in prime position for the promotion place.

"Waterford have fallen behind. It's not for want of trying, but the pool of players in the other four counties is obviously stronger. Kerry and Cork are the standard-bearers, and I can see Tipperary getting to another Munster final this year, they have the players to do it."

Waterford face Tipp in the opener on Saturday evening in Thurles, and McGlinchey isn't hopeful of an upset.

"Tipperary are going to be strong favourites against us, and that's not just, you know, idle talk. Tipperary are a Division 2 team, should have qualified for Division 1. Waterford only had one win and one draw [in Division 4]. Realistically we're looking at the qualifiers, and having a run in the qualifiers, and getting that championship win under the belt."

Liam Kearns was vocal about his displeasure with the fixing of a potential semi-final with Cork just one week after the quarter-final, stating that he believed it was brought forward to facilitate Cork's safe passage through to the final so it could be played at a packed Páirc Uí Chaoimh. On a point of note, the Tipperary footballers boycotted the Munster Championship launch.

While some opine that Kearns and Tipp are looking past their quarter-final clash with the Déise, McGlinchey doesn't feel Tipp complaining about potential semi-finals acts as any inspiration for his team.

"I think the days of photocopying newspapers for the dressing room wall [are over], although I'm sure every manager has done it at some stage! I know Liam a long time, and I suppose he's making the point that they only have a week between, but realistically they're playing Waterford. I don't think the Waterford game will trouble them too much.

"Maybe it's to take the focus off Tipperary. I genuinely don't know, I haven't been talking to Liam in the last few weeks, but I don't think it's going to be any motivation for us. Tipperary are clear strong favourites going into the game, and rightly so."

12 months ago, Waterford gave Cork the fright of their lives, going down by a single point. While the goal is to build on that performance, McGlinchey noted there is a turnover of players in the last year.

"From that Cork game we've six players not available to us this year, four of them with serious long-term injuries. That's 40% of your team. You take a team like Waterford, you can't do without six of your first-team starters.

"So we used 2018 to blood new players, and they've done reasonably well, but it's going to take time for them to blood into the cut and thrust of intercounty football. So I would say 2018 is a bit too early to build on what happened last year. But I'd think the future is bright for Waterford there are a lot of good young players there. They just need a bit of momentum, and a bit of consistency but that's going to be hard."

Saturday evening's clash with Tipp may not make for the most enjoyable experience from a Déise point of view, but they'll be eager to use it to build.