Goalkeeper Gary Maguire says Dublin will "give it a right lash" against Kilkenny.

Anthony Daly's charges will face the All-Ireland champions in Sunday's Leinster SHC semi-final at Portlaoise and Maguire knows they have a lot of improving to do after the heavy defeat suffered in the corresponding fixture last year:

"It's a massive test," the Dubs netminder concedes in The Irish Examiner. "I'd say everyone is looking forward to it.

"As a player, you want to be seen in a positive way but we let ourselves down [last year]. We'll give it a right lash.

"We'll have to get working. It could be a bit of mental toughness - we need to get the bit between our teeth. Kilkenny were probably in second gear against Offaly who threw everything at them.

"We were just concentrating on the Wexford game but it moves on to Kilkenny and we know all about Kilkenny. Last year we built ourselves up and Kilkenny built us up.

"We geared towards it a bit too much. This year it's more one game at a time.

"But there's no doubt we want to be playing against the best and Kilkenny have been the benchmark, and still are. We'll throw everything we have at them and see how good we are."

Maguire also expressed his frustration at the state of the Parnell Park pitch for last weekend's replay against Wexford:

"I think there were a few horses let out on it last week! It wouldn't be the Mae West compared to Wexford Park which was like a carpet.

"We're obviously still playing second fiddle to the footballers - a decent pitch wouldn't go astray." Tweet

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