Former Armagh All-Star Aaron Kernan doesn't expect Kildare to go "massively defensive" against Jamie Clarke this weekend.

The Orchard men face Cian O'Neill's side at Croke Park on Saturday for a place in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals and Kernan feels that his native county are in a good place, with ace attacker Clarke having buried home one of the goals of the championship so far against Tipperary the last day.

"To have the calmness to do it is what sets him apart from a lot of people," the Crossmaglen man told The Irish News.

"He always seem to have time on the ball, four or five yards out, a goalkeeper and two men on the line and he just wasn't fazed by it. He's a goal-scorer more than anything so it was brilliant for him.

"I don't think Kildare will go massively defensive around him, I think they'll let Armagh play a bit and a goal does wonders for him.

"I think he's fallen in love with the game again and scoring goals is what he really thrives on. There wasn't much talk about him and he kept his head down prior to that.

"I've seen a wee bit more of him in interviews and papers since then, but for me that's just a bit of the swagger coming back into him. I'd love to see him really cutting loose."

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