Eamonn Corcoran returns to the Tipperary team for Sunday's All-Ireland hurling qualifier against Galway in Pearse Stadium.

Suspended for 12 weeks after being sent off in the league match against Galway, Corcoran becomes available again tomorrow at midnight.

Not surprisingly, he is brought straight back into a team that has struggled in his absence and will fill the centre-back position that has caused so much trouble for manager Michael Doyle this year.

In the last qualifier round against Laois, Tommy Dunne was switched back, but Corcoran's availability means that Dunne can return to centrefield.

Although he played wing back on the side that won the AllIreland in 2001 Corcoran is no stranger to the central role, having played there for WIT in the Fitzgibbon Cup and last year he lined out for Tipperary in the position for the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny.

Losing out, indirectly, is Eoin Brislane who drops to the bench as Tommy Dunne moves to the middle to partner Eddie Enright.

The other change sees John Carroll dropped in order to accommodate Lar Corbett, with captain Brian O'Meara moving back to left wing forward.

One man in a position to judge between the competing merits of the teams is Cyril Lyons, the Clare manager, whose team faced both counties, heavily defeating Tipperary and losing narrowly to Galway.

He is unsurprised by the main switches in the Tipp line-out.

"Tommy Dunne played centre back against Laois, but that wasn't even a trial because the match was won by half-time.

"I wouldn't have used him there anyway even though Tipp have been unsettled in the position for a while.

"He offers too much as an attacking midfielder. He's one of the best in the game not just because of his scoring but also the quality of his ball into the forwards. If he's not there a lot of that quality ball isn't going in."

Lyons sees the return of Corcoran as a major lift for the team, not alone freeing Dunne to take up his optimum position, but bringing some much-needed quality to a defence that has been uncertain this season, riddled with injury and poor form.

And he doesn't believe that the long lay-off will have any damaging effect.

"Eamonn Corcoran did well last year playing Henry Shefflin, the best centre forward in the game. He hasn't any match practice but he'll have all the training done. Anyway, the rest of the team have only had the Laois game since playing us and that's seven weeks ago."

While acknowledging that the match is difficult to call, Lyons has a sneaking preference for Galway and identifies one of the team's newer forwards as a player who hurt Clare most.

"I wouldn't rule out Galway. They finished against us a better team than had started. The two playing midfield were taken off so there'll have to be improvement there.

"Damien Hayes gave us a lot of trouble with his ability to win ball and even if he doesn't always get a big return he gets a good few frees."

It will be the first championship meeting of the counties since the All-Ireland final of 2001, which Tipp won.

Tipperary (SH v Galway)

B Cummins

T Costello, P Curran, M Maher

B Dunne, E Corcoran, P Kelly

E Enright, T Dunne

M O'Leary, C Gleeson, B O'Meara (c)

E Kelly, D Byrne, L Corbett.

Subs: J Cottrell, A Butler, E Brislane, L Cahill, J Carroll, J Devane, D Fitzgerald, R Flannery, B Horgan, D Kennedy, C Morrissey, P O'Brien, G O'Grady, E Ryan, M Ryan.