Galway senior hurling captain, Fergal Moore, is looking forward to Sunday's clash with Clare, and he believes that the Galway panel will have learnt a lot from their heavy defeat to Dublin in the Leinster final.
"We went up to Dublin three weeks ago with our Leinster title on the line and came home without it, which was hugely disappointing. It was a very discouraging performance from us, but the beauty of it is we have a second chance on Sunday in an All-Ireland quarter-final and everyone is looking forward to that.
"We learnt a lot from the Dublin game. We were a little undercooked in that game and they were flying and up to championship pace. At least we found out then where we were, and we have a chance to go out and rectify it this weekend."
The current All-Star feels that any of the six teams that are left can go a long way in the All-Ireland series.
"It has been a hugely open championship and there is a lot of hurling to be done yet. There have been a good few draws over the past few games and while a lot of people fancy Kilkenny, I think it is very open and would not rule out any of the remaining teams going all the way. We believe that if we can get a result on Sunday, we will be hard stopped too."
Moore knows that Clare are going to be well up for the game and will be difficult to beat.
"Clare are not short of match practice and were unlucky to lose to Cork in the Munster championship and are on the back of two morale boosting performances and wins in the qualifiers. It is a local derby, and it will be a huge challenge for us, but one we are really looking forward to.
"It is knockout for us now. And we have to replicate our championship form from last year or we will be out. We have to play at top championship form or we will be in big trouble. You cannot beat the cut and thrust of championship and we believe that the game against Dublin will have brought us on a ton. Training has been going well and it was good to have a championship game with the club too. The bottom line is, that we have to beat Clare, or our season is over."
Moore is expecting a big crowd at Semple Stadium on Sunday and he is hopeful that it will contain plenty of Galway fans.
"Hopefully we will have good Galway support there. That support was a big factor in our run last season and hopefully the same can happen this Sunday. You don't become a bad team overnight and it is all about getting a big performance out of ourselves against Clare and if we do that, the result will take care of itself."
