Kildare under 21 captain Gary Whyte has paid tribute to manager Glenn Ryan ahead of Saturday's Cadbury's All-Ireland final against Kerry at Thurles. Ryan is just 60 minutes away from guiding the Lilywhites' to their first All-Ireland success in the grade - less than a year after he brought the curtain down on an illustrious playing career with the county. "Glenn is an inspirational figure in Kildare, everyone listens to what he says," Whyte said. "The thing that got us this far is how close we are. We were away for a few weekends and we really bonded well. We fight very well for one another and that's the reason why we are in the final." Whyte revealed that Ryan's objective from the outset had been to bring Kildare to an All-Ireland final. The young centre back added: "He said our goal is an All-Ireland final. I think that was a big part in us winning Leinster - the fact that we were looking to get to the final. Before, Kildare teams might have been happy with a Leinster title and anything extra would be a bonus." Tweet

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