The Leinster Council confirmed yesterday all 82,500 tickets for Sunday's provincial football final between Dublin and Laois had been sold. This ensures the year's cumulative attendance at championship matches will break a million this weekend.

In team news, Kildare football manager John Crofton has named the team that beat Roscommon in round one of the qualifiers for Saturday's visit of Louth to Newbridge.

The regular midfield pairing of Killian Brennan and Dermot Early remain absent through injury, so Ronan Sweeney and David Lyons continue to hold the middle.

Tyrone's preparations for the Ulster final have been boosted by positive fitness reports on Niall Gormley and Tommy McGuigan, while Stephen O'Neill appears to have recovered sufficiently, from knee and hamstring problems, to feature at some stage.

Final decisions on Ger Cavlan (hamstring) and Cormac McGinley (groin) will be made after training tonight. McGinley seems unlikely to start, leaving Joe McMahon the favourite to be named at full back.

Armagh's conquerors Derry welcome back Enda Muldoon ahead of Mayo's arrival to Celtic Park on Saturday night. Conleth Gilligan is expected to recover from a dead leg, but team captain Kevin McGuckin remains on the long-term injury list with a fractured leg.

In hurling, Tipperary's Michael 'Babs' Keating will be without several players for Cork's visit to Thurles on Saturday. Diarmuid Fitzgerald, Paul Curran and James Woodlock are definitely out; Eoin Kelly, Shane McGrath, Paul Kelly, Danny O'Hanlon and Shane McGrath are doubtful. Micheál Webster may come back into the attack.

KILDARE (SFC v Louth): E Murphy; E Callaghan, K O'Neill, A McLoughlin; A Rainbow, M Hogarty, E Bolton; R Sweeney, D Lyons; J Kavanagh, J Doyle, K Donnelly; M Conway, J Phillips, P O'Neill.