Ex-Clare star Niall Gilligan says Davy Fitzgerald's decision to step down as the county's senior hurling manager has lifted a load of pressure off the players ahead of next season.

Speaking with RTE Sport this morning, Gilligan stated that both the management and players had to shoulder the blame for the team's recent fortunes.

"I'm delighted he has done what he did," said the Sixmilebridge man. "Because if you look at the experience in other counties, like Galway last year, at the end of the day if a manager loses the dressing room, he's going nowhere.

"This way gives the county board a chance to find a successor. It takes a lot of the pressure for 2017 off the players."

Citing the Banner County's unlikely 2013 Liam McCarthy Cup triumph, Gilligan added that his former team mate deserves major credit for his greatest accomplishment as a manager:

"Clare don't win All-Irelands every year, it was a huge achievement.

"Why Clare fans have become a bit disillusioned and disappointed I think (was because) when they won in 2013 they were very young, and they won the Under-21 All-Ireland.

"People were expecting them to kick on, to a Munster Championship or at least be in the All-Ireland semi-final stage every year and when that didn't transpire supporters and players became a bit disillusioned and hungry for more success."

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