Johnny Dooley is pleased to be a part of Offaly's effort to dethrone the All-Ireland hurling champions, Clare, in the All-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park on Sunday. A series of niggling injuries has plagued his season but now he is content that he can play a full part in Offaly's efforts, and looks forward to the match.

"There is no doubt about it, we are rated as total outsiders against Clare and it is difficult to disagree with that. Even our own supporters believe that we will need a miracle to beat Clare. They have been playing so well in recent times that we are not given a chance, but things can change rapidly in hurling and we are not going out with a defeatist attitude," he says.

"We know that a huge task faces us but we have worked hard and the players are very determined. We were less than convincing against Antrim, but a match like that always poses its own problems. If we had won by 20 points we still would not have been given credit for a good performance.

"Now we have a chance to show that we are by no means a weak team and I believe that the players will respond positively and we are capable of giving Clare a difficult time.

"We have nothing to lose, really. All the pressure is on Clare and the controversy over what happened in the Munster final replay will not have helped them, I believe. At the same time I think that we will have to make a huge improvement in our performances this year if we are to have a chance.

"We were not good against Kilkenny and were poor against Antrim, there was no real bite in our approach to that game, but there is great pride in the side and we are determined to show that we are still a match for the best.

"There is little doubt that Clare are the best in the country at the moment, but teams can have an offday. We have a team in which we have a lot of experience with people like Kevin Kinahan, Martin Hanamy, Brian Whelahan, Hubert Rigney, Kevin Martin, Johnny Pilkington, John Troy and Michael Duignan. Lads like that will not be overawed by the occasion," he says.

He modestly leaves out members of the Dooley clan - Joe and himself will be on the team on Sunday and another brother, Billy, will be on the substitutes' bench.

He also refers to some of the younger players such as Simon

Whelahan, Darren Hannify, John Ryan and Paudie Mulhare, who have everything to win and not a lot to lose. "I don't feel that we are on a hiding to nothing. We have prepared well during the winter with a lot of gym work. I have had a series of niggling injuries but I have shaken them off, I hope. I had a broken thumb and a bad back and other minor problems, but I'm in pretty good shape at the moment.

"In the last couple of months we have done a lot of ball work. You have to train the eye and the wrist and the hands to cope with the speed of the game and we have done a lot of that.

"We did a lot of stamina work during the winter with long-distance running and so on and we have left nothing to chance. We feel that we can match Clare in most areas of the game and, given a few breaks here and there, we could spring a big surprise," he says.

"I know they will be in top form but there has been a lot of talk about them in the past few weeks and it depends on how they react to that. They will have huge support I am sure and we will be outnumbered in that respect, but we have very loyal support and they will be right behind us from the start. If we can get a few early scores and get a bit of confidence we can surprise a lot of people," he says with impressive confidence.

By any standards the amount of rather negative publicity which Clare have had in recent times, including this week, may have an effect on the team's morale - either positive or negative. From Johnny Dooley's attitude it would seem clear that Offaly are capable of taking advantage of any lack of concentration which might pervade the Clare camp as a result of the raging controversies. The match, therefore, may not be as one-sided as many might suggest. Offaly, and Johnny Dooley, are well aware of the fact that they will have to take advantage of whatever Clare have by way of negative publicity. Perhaps the outcome of the match is not as cut and dried as current popular opinion would suggest.