Kerry manager Jack O’Connor has warned that Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final clash with Derry may not be a football classic.
With the back-to-back Ulster champions utilising system that has made it extremely difficult for opposing sides over the last two years, the Kingdom boss is adamant that patience will be the order of the day.
“All I’d say to you is that we’re not expecting a classic or anything like that, the way Derry have set up all year I couldn’t see it being an open end-to-end game,” O’Connor said.
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“I think we’re going to have to be very patient, the Kerry supporters are going to have to be patient.
“The last thing you do is to be cavalier with the ball and just be giving it back to the opposition
because you might not see it again for a few minutes.
“We will have to think our way through the game, we have to be really patient and we have to be efficient.
“They’re a team that pride themselves on their tackling and their counter-attacking and we’re going to have to be good defensively because they’re well capable of working scores.
“They have some really good forwards and some really good individual players. The standard of football in Derry is very high.
“They’re probably on a crest of a wave with the minors winning and the chances are they’ll outnumber us supporter-wise as well on Sunday.”
Unlike the reigning Sam Maguire Cup kingpins, Derry are unbeaten in this year’s Championship with five victories and two draws from their seven outings.
O’Connor added: “Every set of coaches set out to get the maximum out of the players they have and Derry are no
different. Every county has a different style but it is not for me really to be making comments on the way they play.
“That’s for outside observers. It doesn’t even come into it. This game is all about winning. The way you play is irrelevant.
“Derry are a very tough nut to crack. They are extremely rigid and systematic defensively. They have proven to be a very hard team to break down. That was seen with Cork.
“Cork only scored 1-8 and we found Cork to be a very good, athletic team who had a lot of firepower.
“We are going to have to be very smart with the ball and very efficient with it. And we will have to be good defensively on the counter-attack because teams that set up defensively can be very good on the counter-attack.”
On the injury front, the Kerry manager revealed that Killian Spillane is back in contention to make the squad after missing most of the Championship up to now due to a persistent ankle ligament problem.
Boss O’Connor said: “He’s back training anyway and participating in the football, so he’ll be available for selection, let’s put it like that.
“I think we have a clean bill of health at the minute.
“There are always bits and pieces coming up to big games but I don’t think anything major.
“We’re expecting a huge battle here because all the evidence would suggest that Derry are better than Tyrone.
“They’ve proved that by winning Ulster the last couple of years.
“They’ve also beaten Tyrone pretty comprehensively the last two times they met them.
“Regardless of what people are talking about, our eyes are fully on Derry the next day.”
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