Each team has reacted differently to the disappointment of championship defeat. Clare took it out on Laois last week and put up a whopping score against Laois.
Wexford responded to the replay defeat by Dublin by not doing conspicuously better against the Antrim and Carlow teams that Laois had beaten. It's likely Liam Dunne's team will feel more comfortable as outsiders this evening than they did in their qualifier matches to date. And the county received a lift this week with the dramatic Leinster Under-21 win over Kilkenny.
Clare unchanged
Clare have named an unchanged team for the match, which ostensibly means that concerns over the knock received by Darach Honan have subsided but we'll see later on.
Wexford teams are rarely bibles either but it's interesting to see Keith Rossiter named at centre back, as both Cork and Laois profited from placing a tight marker on Tony Kelly, which inhibited his favourite game of running from deep.
It’s hard to see Wexford’s forwards exerting the same intensity of pressure on Clare that Cork managed in the Munster semi-final given the difficulties they endured against Carlow. On the wide-open spaces in Thurles it’s likely Liam Dunne’s team will struggle to contain opponents who can open up the space for a convincing victory and a place in the quarter-finals for the first time in five years.
