Anthony Daly is hoping a red-hot atmosphere in Ennis on Saturday evening could tip the scales in Clare's favour when they host Tipperary in their Munster showdown.
Both sides enter the game with one point, having both opened their respective accounts with morale-boosting draws; the Banner fighting back to reel in Cork while the Premier County confounded the pre-match predictions to ensure a share of the spoils against Limerick.
Their second outings however have left plenty of soul-searching, Clare’s momentum halted at Walsh Park while Tipp took a trimming on Leeside, not helped by a first-minute red card to Darragh McCarthy.
Defeat for either team in Cusack Park is likely to spell a fatal blow for their Munster and All-Ireland ambitions.
Speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, Daly is hopeful that home advantage will be decisive, particularly with Tipp returning some of their ticket allocation.
"I’m hoping it will be a cauldron on Saturday evening," he said.
"We have lads who were nominated for All-Stars last year, some that got All-Stars and haven’t played for us at all this year, league or championship and they need to step up, maybe without Tony Kelly and John Conlon who is a doubt, maybe Conor Cleary too.
"We need those guys to step up and if they don’t we’ll be in huge trouble."
Daly believes the feel-good factor surrounding the Cork draw masked the fact the Banner were very much second best for the majority of the game with Shane Barretts red card a crucial moment. The performance in Walsh Park again showed a number of players struggling to recapture the Liam MacCarthy-winning form from last year.
The two-time All-Ireland winning captain is tentatively backing his county to prevail.
"Clare are hot favourites, but I think it is very much 50/50," he said.
"People in the county are feeling huge pressure, that the boys might not come out of this one (Munster championship).
"I think we’ll get there. I don’t know how, but I think the will of the place will drive them over the line."
Listen to the RTÉ GAA Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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