Clare might have claimed an impressive Munster semi-final victory over Limerick on Sunday, but former Treaty captain Donal O'Grady believes the Banner men remain a level below genuine All-Ireland hurling contenders.
Shane O'Donnell grabbed a pair of first-half goals as Clare reached their first Munster decider since 2008 with a 3-17 to 2-16 win at Semple Stadium.
Despite the result, however, O'Grady insists his former team-mates should have no qualms should they be required to face them again later in the summer based on Sunday's performance.
"For Clare, whether they played well or didn't play well, once they won was the key," O'Grady told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.
"They've had such a bad record in the Munster championship, to be back in the Munster final is huge for them and they'll be playing late into July now, in an All-Ireland quarter-final.
We need your consent to load this SoundCloud contentWe use SoundCloud to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
"But if Limerick played them next week, I wouldn't fear them one bit, based on (Sunday). Are they a team that will win the All-Ireland?
"I still think there's four teams ahead of them - Tipp, Kilkenny, Galway and I'd put Waterford in there as well.
"Clare have plenty to work on - they did a lot of short passing which they overran at times and a lot of ball went out over the line and David Reidy would be disappointed with his free-taking in the second half.
"But they're in a good place; they are in a Munster final."
Of the four counties highlighted, O'Grady has been most impressed with Galway's march to the League title and comprehensive victory over Dublin in the Leinster quarter-finals.
"I've seen Galway against Limerick and in the League final, and obviously against Dublin the other day, and they look to be really fine tuned," he said. "They have a huge physical presence to their team now.
"The pressure is off Joe (Canning, pictured). I genuinely think he's unmarkable and it's damage limitation there. He's just a class player and if he's not striking the ball there's going to be somebody running off his shoulder.
"He's in the form of his life and you can see he's enjoying his hurling."
Meanwhile, Limerick must go back to the drawing board to plot their way through the qualifiers in the hope of reaching the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
And O'Grady believes that their young side should be excused blame for Sunday's defeat as they look to grow under the stewardship of John Kiely.
"We came here hopeful with a lot of young lads in the team. Obviously it's frustrating that we haven't been in enough All-Ireland finals and winning enough Munster titles in the last 10 or 12 years.
"It's a common denominator, we're getting so far but we're not getting over the line. Have faith in these lads and I think John Kiely is the right man to lead them."
