Pete McGrath believes Down have the firepower to overcome Kildare and set up an All-Ireland football final meeting with Cork.

The 1991 and '94 All-Ireland winning manager, who lost out to James McCartan when the position became vacant this time last year, told the Irish Independent: "Defensively, Down have improved. I also think that in the midfield area, the arrival of Kalum King into the county squad this year has given them an added dimension. He's a big strong midfielder, he's given them a lot of stability in that area, particularly defensively.

"I still think the strength of the Down team is their forward line. All Down teams that have done well through the years have had forwards that are capable of conjuring up scores and getting goals at critical times."

However, McGrath accepts that Kildare provide a major obstacle to the Mournemen in their quest to get back into the All-Ireland final for the first time in 16 years.

"Put it this way, I don't think you'd have a lot of people rushing off to put large sums of money with great confidence on either Down or Kildare. It's that close," he said.

"I must say, I'm very impressed with Kildare. Physically they're strong but they're also very mobile and they've got a pace and intensity about their game. They're highly competitive.

"For a number of years they would have been regarded as being a bit sterile in their approach to the game but I think they have evolved a very good system of play." Tweet

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