Tomas O Se has joked about how he may have to swap the Dickie-bow he wore on the Sunday Game last weekend for a helmet when Kerry face Cork in the Munster SFC final.

The five-time All-Ireland winner managed to upset both camps with his recent criticism of the Rebels and their manager Brian Cuthbert.

In his Irish Independent column, O Se says it was never his intention to rile Cork. He also says he regrets his remark: "Put it like this - if Eamonn Fitzmaurice was in charge of Cork, I think you'd have a different Cork team".

He writes today: "Rumour is they'll have 'Wanted' posters carrying my picture stuck up in the Cork dressing room on Sunday.

"But if they're using me as a stick to beat Kerry with now, they're not in a good place. I've no doubt that my criticisms of them a few weeks ago will be used in some way because, if I'm honest, it's just the kind of stuff I used look out for as a player. Someone basically questioning the size of your manhood.

"But I wasn't trying to stoke up a fire and I certainly wasn't trying to be a cute Kerry hoor. What I said is what I think of Cork. They just haven't stepped up to the plate for big games in recent years and they need to start doing that before people will regard them the way I'm assuming they want to be regarded.

"If there's one thing I regret, it's that I probably shouldn't have said what I said about Brian Cuthbert. It's not my style to make something personal and that's certainly not what I intended there. But every other thing, I'd repeat now. It's not about having a dig. I respect Cork more than any man.

"So let me repeat something. The players I mentioned, the likes of Colm O'Neill, Michael Shields, Alan O'Connor, Mark Collins, Paul Kerrigan, Brian Hurley and Donncha O'Connor, if those guys stand up and lead, then Cork can be dangerous. Especially if Kerry aren't tuned in properly.

"But the point about this Cork team is that you just don't know what you're going to get with them from one day to the next."

O Se, who now plays his club with Nemo Rangers, added: "I'm not backing down on what I said about Cork. But I do think this game is going to be desperately close because I'm not convinced that Kerry are where they need to be. I'm not trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes in saying that, it's what I genuinely believe.

"Anyway, I'm sure I'll be getting it in the ear from Cork people, but there'll probably be more than a few Kerry lads too with something to say about my Sunday Game dress sense. So it could be a long afternoon in God's country.

"Might just ditch the Dickie-bow for a helmet!"

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