HUTCH HUNCH

Dessie has feeling Deise won't be far away

- BY PAT NOLAN

WATERFORD become the last side to enter the hurling Championship this weekend - and ace forward Dessie Hutchinson insists they're as good as any that have gone before them.

Having received a bye in round one of the Munster Championship, Waterford open with a home tie against All-Ireland champions Clare at Walsh Park on Sunday.

Of the five counties that compete in the Munster Championship, Waterford are the only one not to have qualified from the top three in any of the previous five stagings of the round robin series in the province dating back to 2018.

They did reach the All-Ireland final in 2020 and semi the following year when the Championship format was tightened due to Covid-19 restrictions.

But Hutchinson doesn't believe that their round robin record places extra pressure on them to seal a coveted top three spot.

He said: "I suppose we have the belief within our squad that we can do it, more so than pressure.