Keith Duggan talks to Antrim manager Dinny Cahill as he prepares to face his native Tipperary

Nobody believes Dinny Cahill, but he doesn't care. He is the one who made the 100 night-drives north over the season. He is the one to who has spent minutes and hours mixing sweet and bold talk in the dressing-room, during pitch huddles, on car journeys. He is the one putting the time into Antrim hurling and so has the right to say they can contend at Croke Park.

And what is there to do but nod and murmur encouragement about keeping it tight and stealing a few goals, dredging up the same old narrative generally reserved for Ulster representatives at this time of year. Because nobody believes Antrim can get past Tipperary, the All-Ireland champions, rapacious and stung since losing to Waterford in the Munster final.

Cahill knows you see it that way and he doesn't mind.

"What I found in Antrim was a county where they feel and talk about the game the same way as anywhere else. It has its strong areas, as Dunloy and Cushendall have shown at club level. But within the county structure, there was a need to redress the emphasis on hurling, a tendency to over-elaborate.

"All our sessions have concentrated on directness, on moving the ball and most of all, using it."

As a former Tipperary hurler still living in the county, Cahill is ideally placed to study his immediate opponents. Despite the setback against Waterford, the indomitable air is returning and Eoin Kelly is shaping up for a season that may leave him as the stand-alone hurler of the year.

"Well, everyone knows what they are made of. They have terrific players and it is true that Eoin Kelly is amassing incredible scores. But our hope is that if we can win ball around centrefield and put pressure on their half-back line, hopefully we will prevent him from getting too much ball. And no matter how good you are, you can't do anything without the ball."

Although exceptionally proud of Tipperary, Cahill has no sentiment about this game.

"For a long time, we were talking about the quarter-finals without knowing what team we had. It is unfortunate that it is my own county but at least we can plan towards it now. And it is good to get to play the All-Ireland champions in Croke Park. I think it would be great for hurling if Antrim could go on to the latter stages of the All-Ireland and I honestly believe that it is only a matter of time before the county wins a championship."

Antrim get a first run around Croke Park this evening and Cahill is optimistic they will raise their game there at the weekend.

"It is the place to do it. We have prepared for this as best we can and looked at all possible scenarios. We have seen the likes of Waterford trail by eight points in games before and come back so the most important thing is that we keep going to the last puc.

"In previous years, Antrim came undone because of really dreadful mistakes that other teams really punished them for. We have been trying to eliminate those, and by keeping them to a minimum against Tipperary I hope we can take the match to them."

Being from Tipperary, Cahill equates hurling with winning. "We have put in the same work as any other county. We didn't get together over 100 times just to come down and lose an All-Ireland quarter-final."

Every Tipperary man in Croke Park believes his team will win on Sunday and Cahill is no different.