Former Tipperary star Shane McGrath believes Kildare are ticking the right boxes to retain their status in Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League.

Brian Dowling’s men suffered their second loss of the campaign at home to top-placed Clare last weekend and will travel to winless Down this Sunday (1pm) before hosting Carlow seven days later.

Speaking on the RTE GAA podcast this week, McGrath reckons the Lilywhites can get the results they need to stay in the second tier going by their performances in the campaign so far.

"Are Kildare happy where they are? Probably not because Brian Dowling wants to be winning all the time," said the two-time All-Star winner.

"They knew that this was going to be tough. I think the aim has to be to stay in 1B. Have they ticked a lot of the boxes to stay in 1B so far? Absolutely they have.

"They have beaten who they felt they should have beat and learned from playing against the top tier teams."

He added: "Brian Dowling is building up a really nice CV to be in the mix to be a Kilkenny manager. What he has done with Kilkenny camogie, he’s involved with St Kieran’s College.

"What he has done with Kildare in the last couple of years, he’s ticking all the boxes for me as a manager. He has created a really good culture there. You are seeing that in their performances."

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