National Football League: Shane Ryan and Jason Sherlock have been restored to the Dublin starting line-up ahead of Saturday's National Football League Division One A match against Cork in Páirc Uí Rinn.
Ryan returns to midfield in place of Darren Homan, while Sherlock dislodges Kilmacud Crokes' Liam Óg Ó hEineachain at centre forward. However, there is still no place for Senan Connell as Colin Moran and Declan Lally are preferred in the wing forward slots. Alan Brogan was not considered as he is still not up to the required fitness levels after a knee operation.
Cork manager Billy Morgan has named a strong team. It will be interesting to compare the physical conditioning of the sides. When the Dublin County Board failed to meet Brian Mullins's criteria to become manager before Christmas they missed out on the chance to avail of the UCD High Performance Centre facilities. In contrast, Morgan has drafted in the centre director Lisa Regan to assist with the Cork panel's preparations.
Meanwhile, Colm Parkinson is officially out of the Laois football panel after departing for the Southern Hemisphere today.
Limerick manager Liam Kearns has stayed loyal to the forward line that misfired against Kildare last weekend for the Division One B match against Sligo.
Stephen Lucey, Brian Begley, Jason Stokes and goalkeeper Séamus O'Donnell are all still injured. Lucey has been out of action since before Christmas because of a shoulder problem, although he did return to training two weeks ago only to pick up a leg injury. Veteran John Quane, who came back of retirement to help the cause, remains part of the squad and is likely to start his 16th championship campaign this summer.
In hurling, the Tipperary team to play Cork this Sunday at Semple Stadium in round five of the National Hurling League is the same line-up that overwhelmed Antrim last week.
Clare hurling, already riding a crest of a wave after beating Kilkenny last Sunday, are expected to receive a further boast ahead of their trip to Waterford on Sunday as the two McMahons, Seanie and Diarmuid, return from injury.
Also, Tony Griffin will be available for selection as he is home from Vancouver for Easter. Griffin is studying in Canada for the next three years but is still expected to be available for the championship.
DUBLIN (SF v Cork): S Cluxton; S Shaughnessy, P Christie (capt), P Griffin; P Casey, B Cullen, P Andrews; C Whelan, S Ryan; C Moran, J Sherlock, D Lally; M Vaughan, C Keaney, T Quinn.
CORK (SF v Dublin): K Murphy; N Geary, D Kavanagh, G Murphy; O Sexton, A Lynch, M Cronin; N Murphy, S Levis (capt); J Masters, C McCarthy, A Cronin; M Ó Croinín, BJ O'Sullivan, K O'Sullivan.
TIPPERARY (SH v Cork): B Cummins; P Curran, P Maher, H Moloney; D Fanning, D Kennedy, E Corcoran; B Dunne (capt), T King; M O'Leary, F Devanney, J Devane; E Kelly, M Webster, P O'Brien.
LIMERICK (SF v Sligo): S Kiely; M O'Riordan, D Sheehy, J McCarthy, P Browne, S Lavin, C Mullane, J Quane, J Donovan; M Crowley, M Gavin, S Buckley, C Fitzgerald, J Galvin, M Reidy.
LIMERICK (U-21F v Waterford): M Jones; S Fox, S Gallagher, S Walsh, E Benson, J McCarthy, D O'Leary; S Buckley, A McEntee; G Noonan, P Russell, K O'Callaghan, P Kirby, G Ahern, P Kinnerk.
