Leinster Hurling Championship: Antrim face Cats in Corrigan Park contest

Kilkenny defeated Antrim by six points at Corrigan Park in early February

Antrim will hope that the familiar surroundings of Corrigan Park can inspire another lively home display as they face Kilkenny in their latest Leinster Championship game on Sunday.

The Saffrons impressed at home against Dublin two weeks ago only for the visitors to snatch a late draw.

However last weekend, a flat first-half saw Antrim lose by four in Wexford in a contest which had looked winnable.

Antrim will need to be on it against the Cats to stay in Sunday's game.

After all the optimism generated by Antrim's display against Dublin, another defeat this weekend will leave the Saffrons facing the prospect of a probable relegation battle against Westmeath later this month, although all six teams in the Leinster round-robin group will survive if Kerry win the Joe McDonagh Cup this season.

Derek Lyng's first competitive game in charge of Kilkenny following the departure of the legendary Brian Cody saw his side face the Saffrons in west Belfast in early February.

The Cats laboured for much of that contest on a miserably wet day but Billy Drennan's 1-8 helped them earn a 1-18 to 0-15 victory.

Derek Lyng guided Kilkenny to the League final in his first season in charge after the departure of the long-serving Brian Cody last summer

In that game, Kilkenny struggled to put into practice the short-passing game favoured by Lyng but while they were beaten by Tipperary a week later, the Cats went on to reach the League Final when they lost out 2-20 to 0-15 against All-Ireland champions Limerick.

So far in the Leinster series, Kilkenny have comfortably beaten Westmeath [0-29 to 0-7] in addition to drawing 0-28 to 1-25 against Galway in a hugely entertaining contest at Nowlan Park last weekend.

The Cats will be boosted their weekend by the return of Richie Hogan to the matchday squad following his recovery from a wrist injury while Walter Walsh is also named in the substitutes.

Lyng's starting line-up has three changes from last weekend with Alan Murphy, Tom Phelan and Martin Keoghan taking over from Conor Fogarty, Padraig Walsh and Timmy Clifford.

Positional switches see Adrian Mullen moving from centre half-forward to midfield and Darragh Corcoran starting at left half-back.

Eoin Cody retains his place in the Kilkenny attack and the Saffrons won't need reminding of his talents following his man-of-the-match display for Ballyhale Shamrocks in their All-Ireland Club Final win over Dunloy in January.

After his Corrigan Park heroics on his Kilkenny debut in February, Drennan is unavailable because of a leg injury which has ruled him out of the Leinster campaign thus far.

Gleeson will demand better start from Saffrons

Antrim boss Darren Gleeson will be demanding a much faster start that his Saffrons managed in Wexford which led to them trailing by nine points at half-time.

A second-half rally means the northerners were only four points down at full-time [1-30 to 1-26] with Wexford keeper James Lawlor also having made brilliant saves to deny Neil McManus and Conal Cunning in the second period.

But the reality was that Antrim's insipid first-half display had left them with too much to do.

Rian McMullan has been drafted into the Antrim starting line-up following his fine display after his second-half introduction a week ago.

With Seaan Elliott ruled out, the Antrim starting line-up shows three changes as Conal Bohill and fit-again Niall McKenna return with Scott Walsh and Joe Maskey dropping to bench.

The Saffrons remains without injured Nigel Elliott who suffered a broken metatarsal in the Dublin game while forwards Conor McCann and Ciaran Clarke are both unlikely to feature this summer as they continue to recover from cruciate ligament injuries.

Antrim: R Elliott; P Burke, R McGarry, N O'Connor; G Walsh, E Campbell (capt), C Bohill; M Bradley, J McNaughton; K Molloy, C Cunning, N McKenna; C Johnston, N McManus, R McMullan.

Subs: T Smyth, S Rooney, C Boyd, E Og McGarry, C McKernan, S Walsh, J Maskey, P Boyle, E O'Neill, S McAuley, D Nugent.

Kilkenny: E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, T Walsh; D Blanchfield, R Reid, D Corcoran; A Mullen, A Murphy; T Phelan, J Donnelly, B Ryan; M Keoghan, TJ Reid, E Cody.

Subs: D Brennan, C Delaney, C Buckley, P Walsh, C Heary, C Kenny, N Brennan, T Clifford, S Walsh, W Walsh, R Hogan.