Dessie Dolan believes Clare are 'on the crest of a wave' and could have momentum decisively on their side in this weekend's clash with Roscommon.
The beaten Connacht finalists travel to Galway to meet a resurgent Clare side and Dolan fears that the dreaded six-day turnaround will condemn the Division One side to a Championship exit.
Clare, meanwhile, have been gaining confidence through two rounds of qualifiers and Dolan praised a breakout season for the Banner footballers.
"It's a massive test for Kevin and Fergal's management, and to be honest I think they are going to be up against it, purely because of that six-day turnaround," the Westmeath legend told RTÉ 2fm's Game On.
"You have one team that's coming in with confidence and are playing exceptionally well, with a calm manager in Colm Collins.
"Everything is positive. they've had a fantastic season. You assumed after they won the league that it would just peter out but they've just kept on winning and winning, and they really are the team of the season for me.
"Roscommon are going into the game as favourites but their season has petered out since the early part of the league.
"You have to think as well about the stage you go into the qualifiers.
"Are Roscommon going to go on and lift the Sam Maguire coming in at this stage, whereas Clare went into the qualifiers early enough and are just building momentum and building confidence, and they are on the crest of a wave going into the game."
"They've just kept on winning and winning, and they really are the team of the season for me."
The six-day turnaround has long been the graveyard for fancied teams, with Dolan insisting it was simply not enough time to mentally pick a team up after going out of the provincial championships.
"Consistently over the years the six-day turnaround has been a nightmare for teams," Dolan said.
"The best example this year would be Monaghan. No one saw them losing, they even made a couple of changes to freshen it up, and they still struggled against Longford and ultimately got knocked out.
"It's a nightmare for any player and for any manager. The disappointment of losing a big Championship match, and then to have to prepare, it's all mental really.
"Physically, footballers nowadays can play nearly every week, no problem, but mentally... if you look at the Roscommon players, they thought they were going to be very close to winning that Nestor Cup last week and you see after the match that visibly they looked shattered.
"What Kevin McStay and Fergal O'Donnell have to do now is rebuild those players and mentally get them back tuned in to be up to the pace of the game when they hit Salthill on Saturday."
