Frank Doherty insists that Clare are better than what their National League results suggested. The Banner could only manage wins over Carlow, Kilkenny and London in Division 4, but their manager points out that they were only narrowly beaten by Sligo, Leitrim, Wicklow and Waterford in four of their other five games. Speaking ahead of tomorrow's Munster SFC semi-final against Limerick at Ennis, the Galway native admits that he has been forced to carry out major rebuilding work to his team due to injuries and emigration. "It's a work in progress," he said. "We've been desperately unlucky losing three defenders to serious knee injuries and another five or six players to emigration. We basically tried to build an entirely new defence over the course of the league. People will look at our results and draw their own conclusions, but there were a few more games we could have won. Maybe we just lacked some experience at crucial times." Limerick come to Cusack Park as firm favourites to reach the Munster final, but Doherty is quietly confident that Clare can upset the apple cart. "We know Sunday is a big ask. We'll have a few debutants. Limerick came and beat a Tipp side that was really being talked up. But we have young players and I'd love to see them play in a provincial final," he added. Tweet

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