Championship 2007:Kerry are confident that after a long lay-off they can go from nought to 70 minutes on Sunday, writes Ian O'Riordan

There are two ways of seeing Kerry's six-week lay-off between their Munster final win over Cork and Sunday's All-Ireland quarter-final against Monaghan: a time to stay relaxed and fresh, ensuring peak performance, or a time for staleness and complacency to set in, entailing a disadvantage against more active opposition.

Kerry trainer John Sugrue sees it only one way. The enforced hiatus since they beat Cork back on July 1st is not ideal, but it's certainly not all bad - and there's no guarantee either that Monaghan will be better off just because they've played two hard games in the meantime.

"To be honest, I think there's a lot made of it," says Sugrue. "It has been difficult in a way, but at the same time the guys have had time to take stock of the Munster final and take a look at what way other teams are progressing.

"We also let the guys off for a while, because there was a round of the county championship two weeks after the Munster final. A lot of the team were involved in that, so that left them with a break from the county training, at least with the full squad.

"Our guys have the experience as well, in that they know how to handle themselves within that time.

"It's true that Monaghan have been a lot more active but there's always the risk they'll be picking up knocks . . . and all that effort can be cumulative."

As team trainer, Sugrue is ultimately responsible for ensuring Kerry are hitting peak fitness when it matters most. Manager Pat O'Shea was more than confident, when taking over from Jack O'Connor, in handing him that role, and Sugrue hasn't disappointed.

It meant filling the shoes of Pat Flanagan, the former national sprint champion in whom O'Connor invested similar faith while guiding Kerry to the All-Ireland titles of 2004 and 2006.

Sugrue is not without credentials of his own; he still plays football with his club Renard in south Kerry and is a qualified physiotherapist working in Killarney.

"Sure, they were big shoes to fill," he says in reference to Flanagan. "But that's the role I've been given, and it's been going okay. We'll see now on Sunday how well we're progressing.

"But again the players have the experience, and know themselves how hard they need to work. They've done that again this year, and that's great testament to their effort."

Flanagan proved a master of getting players to peak at the right time, and for Sugrue that's been the big challenge.

Kerry aren't just fancied to beat Monaghan on Sunday; they are also favourites to win the title outright for the third time in four years. And since winning back their Munster title that has been their main goal.

"The Munster final is always a very important fixture," says Sugrue, "but at the same time, there was always something beyond that date, either into the qualifiers or the All-Ireland quarter-final. That's where we are at now."

Kerry, however, have effectively been tested only once this year, in their 1-15 to 1-13 win over Cork in the Munster final.

All they had before that was the 2-15 to 0-4 win over Waterford, while Monaghan have had tight games against Down, Derry and Tyrone and, as recently as last Sunday week, the highly impressive win over Donegal.

Yet Monaghan have never beaten Kerry in a championship match. They forced them to a replay in the 1985 All-Ireland semi-final, but their only other meetings (in 1979 and 1930) ended in comprehensive victories for Kerry.

Monaghan's hopes of success this time won't be helped by the fact that Kerry are at full strength, showing just one change from the Munster final of six weeks ago, as Séamus Scanlon replaces Micheál Quirke at midfield.

"There's been very tight competition for that spot," explains Sugrue. "Obviously Micheál Quirke did very well in the Munster final, and he's been going quite well, but from a tactical viewpoint, we felt Séamus fitted our needs for Sunday."

Tommy Griffin is also back to full fitness training and is ready for an introduction at midfield if needed, while forwards Seán O'Sullivan, Declan Quill and Bryan Sheehan weren't far off starting places and are likely to see action on Sunday.

KERRY (SF v Monaghan): D Murphy; M Ó Sé, T O'Sullivan, P Reidy; T Ó Sé, A O'Mahony, K Young; D Ó Sé, S Scanlon; D O'Sullivan, E Brosnan, P Galvin; C Cooper, K Donaghy, M F Russell.