Gaelic Games/Leinster SHC Semi-final Kilkenny v Dublin: Ian O'Riordan reads between the lines after listening to both camps

Tomorrow is self-assessment time for Dublin hurling. They face-off with Kilkenny, the team they haven't beaten in the Leinster championship in 61 years. A game they might not be expected to win, but where they'll still set their market-index for the year.

Getting to Nowlan Park might only be the opening adventure of new manager Marty Morris, who is just five months into the job, but there is a sense that the team's youthful confidence is gradually being replaced by just confidence, and that they should at least be closer to Kilkenny than some of the more recent championship meetings.

Selector Mick O'Riordan was part of the previous Dublin management team of Kevin Fennelly, and partly for that reason was chosen to work with Morris in sustaining the team's development. He feels that progress has continued, but might still be short of the heights Dublin hurling is now aspiring towards.

"What Marty has really done is maintain that development," says O'Riordan. "If you take players like Stephen Hiney, Conal Keaney, and Derek O'Reilly, they've really been developing over the last 12 to 18 months.

"But Marty has also started the cycle too with players like Keith Wilson, Michael Carton and Keith Elliott. So this development has been ongoing in the team for two or three years now. But we're far from finished. We still need another three or four players to take us where we really want to go."

O'Riordan, however, is satisfied that preparations for the showdown with Kilkenny have gone as smoothly as one could hope. "Well we're certainly not over-confident," he says, "but we're going out there to give it everything. And this is definitely the game that we've been building for all season.

"We have suffered a little with injuries, and Liam Ryan is still a big loss, but in terms of our preparations we can't have any complaints. We've had plenty of good sessions behind us and, physically, the team are definitely ready."

Yet, he has no problem highlighting the difficulties that Kilkenny will present tomorrow evening: "Well it's DJ Carey and Martin Comerford and Henry Shefflin. And Charlie Carter when he comes in. I mean they are the best team in the country. But I honestly think we have a set of backs that are as good as most teams out there. We'll just have to work very hard to try and gets the breaks for our forwards.

"We did beat them in the Walsh Cup earlier the year, but that's up in a glass case now in Parnell Park. And forgotten about. But the confidence from that game has been lasting. It was so important that Dublin won some sort of trophy, and it has definitely helped develop this belief that we can now win big matches."

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody agrees that Dublin come back to Nowlan Park with probably the ideal preparations.

"One of the most important things about this game is that Dublin have had two championship matches against Laois in the last two weeks," he says. "And two very competitive championship matches. Whereas we've had no competitive games now since the league.

"And I think the fact that both of those games were played in Nowlan Park more or less balances out any advantage that the home venue might have given us."

Cody is also quick to point out what he sees as Dublin's strengths: "Overall, I think they have developed into a very good side during the league. They have grown and grown as a team and I would say there are as happy as they could possibly be right now with their preparations for this game.

"They proved too they have great team spirit, especially when they were down a man against Laois for a long time during the drawn game. And last Saturday I thought they were by far the better team. They have plenty of players with great pace and great skill, and have proved to be a very difficult team to beat."

While it is natural for Cody to build up opposing teams, he's not hiding the fact that his team are equally prepared. Retaining the Leinster title is the least of the Kilkenny's goals this summer and losing to Dublin certainly doesn't fit into that plan. He insists he has named his strongest possible 15 for the game - even if captain Charlie Carter again starts on the bench.

"There's absolutely nothing experimental about this Kilkenny team. This is not a time for experiments. This is a time for flat-out hurling.

"But we are certainly happy with our own preparations. Things have gone well in training since the league and the effort from every player has been absolutely top class. So I'd have to say we're as well prepared as we would like to be as well."