Paudie Kissane says Cork are going to embrace the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers as they bid to get back to Croke Park come August.

The Rebels suffered a crushing extra-time defeat to rivals Kerry on Sunday and now have to wait to discover who they play in the second round of the back-door, with other provincial semi-finals and first round qualifiers to be played over the next fortnight.

"You've no choice but to drive on now," said Kissane.

"We've been training for this for so long that we're not going to give up now. With the group of players that are there and the management we have, we're going to embrace the qualifiers and try to get back to Croke Park.

"We trained with the aim of winning and getting to the Munster final as we wanted to go the most direct route. Of course there are things that we need to improve on. But we're still in the All-Ireland championship and that's what it's all about."

Along with NFL finalists Mayo, Cork will be hotly fancied to progress to the quarter-finals along with the winners of Donegal/Armagh and the losers of Sligo/Galway and Tyrone/Down this weekend. Tweet

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