Former Kilkenny captain Denis Byrne says there's no point bringing Henry Shefflin on for a few minutes at the end of Saturday's All-Ireland hurling final replay.

Byrne, who lined out for both the Cats and Tipperary, insists that the Ballyhale Shamrocks legend should be on from the start:

"I think they'd be better off starting him than bringing him on for five or ten minutes," he says in The Irish Independent. "I'd start him in the half-forward line because you need more speed in the full line. At this stage, his legs wouldn't be getting any faster.

"On the half line, he could drift around and contest puckouts. And let's be honest about it, Kilkenny's half-forwards haven't been winning that many puckouts in recent times.

"I definitely think he's worth more than two or three minutes at the end of the game and he wouldn't want to be brought on as a token gesture at the end of the game for the sake of getting a medal. That's not what he went back training for at the start of the year.

"The Kilkenny management wouldn't be noted for making calls during games. They make a lot of calls before games but they wouldn't be noted for acting in high-pressure situations.

"I think they will probably make a good few changes. That would be the pattern of recent years - they seem to make a lot of changes between games but not that many during the match itself."

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