Kildare's familiarity with Croke Park gives them an advantage over Armagh ahead of this Saturday's All-Ireland SFC qualifier, opines Aaron Kernan.

The 2014 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final defeat to Donegal was the last time that Orchard County players graced the hallowed turf.

"You'll find a lot of them won't have played there before," the Crossmaglen clubman - who walked away from the inter-county scene following that aforementioned defeat - remarked to The Irish Times.

"I'd say the only thing that might help them is there's no bigger pitch than Semple Stadium and having a game in it where they played well. They found plenty of open space, but it will take them a while to get used to the surroundings.

"Kildare will only have had two weeks since their last game in it, but it'll not be the losing of the game for them anyway. But definitely it does take adjusting to. I wouldn't have thought there'll be more than 30,000 at it so it can be eerie enough.

"You get into your stride and every one of these Armagh players will be excited about getting a game at Croke Park.

"It's a rare enough opportunity for us these days, so they'll be looking to make the best of it."

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