It's advantage Kildare heading into this evening's Leinster SFC quarter-final replay at Tullamore after the Lilywhites dug deep to snatch a draw seven days ago.

Three late Kildare points earned Jason Ryan's charge an exciting 0-16 apiece derby draw and it's a result that will have done their confidence no harm at all.

"We are delighted to have another week's training for a lot of our players that haven't come back from knocks and injuries," manager Ryan commented afterwards.

"It's another game under their belts in what we want to be a good championship run this year."

Laois, on the other hand, were left disappointed at their failure to kill off the contest at the first time of asking.

"I thought the lads fought very well and you can never take it for granted that a championship game is won," Tomas O Flatharta observed. "You have to keep going until the very end."

Both Ryan and O Flatharta have announced unchanged line-ups for this evening's renewal.

Tommy Moolick, who made a major impact when introduced as a substitute, has to be content with a place on Kildare bench while newcomer Kevin Murnaghan continues at right half-back with Paul Cribbin lining up at midfield alongside Gary White.

The O'Moore County's midfield pairing of John O'Loughlin and Brendan Quigley will be key to their chances of success but, from the outside looking in, there appears to be greater room for improvement within the Kildare set-up.

Verdict - Kildare.

Kildare team: Mark Donnellan; Ciaran Fitzpatrick, Mick O'Grady, Ollie Lyons; Kevin Murnaghan, Fergal Conway, Emmet Bolton; Gary White, Paul Cribbin; Padraig O'Neill, Eoghan O'Flaherty, Cathal McNally; Eamonn Callaghan, Alan Smith, Padraig Fogarty.

Laois team: Graham Brody; Damien O'Connor, Mark Timmons, Stephen Attride; Darren Strong, Robbie Kehoe, Colm Begley; Brendan Quigley, John O'Loughlin; Niall Donoher, Conor Boyle, Evan O'Carroll; Ross Munnelly, Donal Kingston, Tom Shiel.

Match details: Saturday; O'Connor Park, Tullamore; 7.15pm; extra-time playable.

Referee: Anthony Nolan.

Odds: Kildare evens, Draw 15/2, Laois 11/10.

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