Former Limerick hurler Stephen Lucey says the county's supporters should remain optimistic after Sunday's Munster SHC semi-final defeat to Tipperary.

While accepting that losing their championship opener was "very disappointing", Lucey pointed out that the Shannonsiders didn't play to their potential against the Munster champions and feels there's plenty of room for improvement as they head into the qualifiers.

"If you were to go through it 1 to 15, nobody played up to the max of what they're capable of and I think that kind of set in a malaise," Lucey told the RTE's Jones Road Podcast yesterday.

"Not everybody was playing to what they could have done. Limerick play at their best when it's absolute manic aggression and passion, and another thing is that when Limerick get going there's lots of hard tackling and intensity and the crowd kicks up. I think the team feeds off the crowd and vice-versa and that brings Limerick on to the next level.

"When Limerick aren't at that level we can be pretty average and I thought yesterday we were average. We were missing that intensity."

The Treaty men are now gearing up for a qualifier date with Westmeath and having given four debuts to All-Ireland U21 winners, Lucey feels that manager TJ Ryan will have plenty of options when it comes to picking his starting 15 against the Lake County.

"You have to focus on the positives," Lucey stated. "The draw is a good draw and their young lads are blooded into championship, that will be bring them on again.

"There'll be competition for places and some fellas won't be sure of their positions so that will bring it on as well.

"The public around here need to just take a step back and the players need to not be listening to that. You get knocks in life but you have to get up and fight again and go again."

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