Antrim manager Darren Gleeson believes the winners of this weekend’s Joe McDonagh Cup final should gain automatic entry into next year’s All-Ireland senior hurling championship competition.

Antrim face Kerry at Croke Park on Saturday (4pm) knowing that a win will see them re-joining the Leinster SHC round-robin stage, while victory for the Kingdom puts them into a play-off game with Tipperary on June 25th in a bid to get into the Munster championship.

Speaking to BelfastLive.co.uk, Gleeson said that the inequality in the competition is something that needs to be looked at by the GAA.

“I think it is something that should have been addressed before now,” said the Tipp native.

“We’ve ended up in a situation where, if they (Kerry) win the competition, they go into a play-off for something they’ve already earned.

“I thought that was something we’d taken out of our competitions, in the Leagues a few years ago when there were promotion play-offs.

“It shouldn’t be in our games. If you win something, you should have the right to go into the next level of the competition.”

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