This is the opportunity we have been preparing for: Johnny McGuirk

Dublin minor hurlers are ready to step up the tempo and intensity as they prepare to face one of the superpowers of hurling, Tipperary, in Sunday's All-Ireland MHC semi-final at Croke Park (2.0).

Johnny McGuirk's men bounced back from their narrow Leinster final defeat to Kilkenny by overcoming Antrim in their All-Ireland quarter-final and since then all eyes have been on Tipp.

“We have had a good look at Tipperary and of course, they are a decent team who won a very competitive Munster Championship," says manager Johnny McGuirk.

“However, there are certainly areas in their team that we will look to exploit and we are confident that we will be able to do that on Sunday.

“Of course, to do that we will need to play at a high tempo and take the chances that come our way but this is the sort of opportunity that we have been waiting for all summer.

“I think that it is anyone’s championship at this stage and it is all about who performs on the day from this point onwards.

“We are exactly where we thought we would be and where we deserve to be and it is up to us to put in a performance that will get us through to the final.

“We have been gearing up for an All-Ireland semi-final all year and we’re really looking forward to going out there and playing to our potential. It’s all about who performs and who wants it on the day,” adds Johnny.