Clare hurling in transition: Davy Fitzgerald's bid to overtake Christy Ring as the most capped intercounty championship hurler in the history of the GAA could be over, as new hurling boss Mike McNamara aims to place his faith in youth.

The former All-Star left the Clare panel after a fallout with Tony Considine last year and is currently out of action with a broken finger.

There had been speculation he might return under the new management team but McNamara's insistence that a youth policy is vital if Clare are to return to the All-Ireland-winning days of 1995 and 1997 does not augur well for the 36-year-old Sixmilebridge goalkeeper.

"It's time for fresh blood," McNamara replied when asked about a possible return for Fitzgerald.

"We have had some very talented (under-) 21s for the last number of years. We've had them on the sidelines looking in and now the time has come for them to step over the line.

"We have a gap where the greatest full back of the era (Brian Lohan) used to be, and the greatest centre back of the era (Seánie McMahon) is gone.

"Those positions must be filled. You can even look at Jamesie (O'Connor).

"We need similar men of similar status to fill those roles, which isn't easy, but I would be very surprised if we can't find 15 hurlers in Clare."

McNamara blames a failure to implement proper underage structures at the height of the county's golden era for Clare's failure in the Munster championship for the past decade.

"It is 10 years arguably since we won a match of any note, so it's time for some new blood and new enthusiasm. We took our eye off the ball (in the past).

"We didn't exploit the successes and began taking things for granted. The underage talent was ignored as we thought the happy days would last forever."

Meanwhile, Clare get their season under way with a Waterford Crystal Munster Cup game against University of Limerick on Sunday and it seems that the players are relishing the prospect, following a punishing pre-Christmas schedule.

"The lads will be glad to be getting into the games as they've gone through six or seven weeks of fairly intensive physical stuff," says McNamara.

"They've worked pretty hard. Ollie (Baker), Fergie Tuohy and Alan (Cunningham) are all hard taskmasters but we're very pleased with the players' efforts and the way things are going."