By Cian O'Connell

'Absolutely delighted' to be preparing for an All Ireland final next month, Cillian Buckley hailed Kilkenny's composure under pressure against Waterford.

Two gripping matches against the Deise tested Kilkenny's resolve, but Brian Cody's team survived.

Another decider with Tipperary now beckons. "We always know we have the ability to close out games, we have serious leaders there and we have lads putting up their hands, Liam Blanchfield caught a ball there at the edge of the square with a few minutes to go and won a free," Buckley reflected.

"Then we've Eoin Murphy down the far end, I still don't know how he took the ball down from over the bar so we know we have those leaders around the field, but look it was tight, we could still be out there playing extra time.

"There's nothing between the two teams and we just had that extra bit at the end and came out the right side of the result."

Serious questions were posed following the dramatic draw with Waterford at Croke Park. "Yeah we still acknowledged that with four or five minutes to go last week it took the very best best of character to dig that one out.

"First of all we had to pat ourselves on the back for still being in this, but we definitely acknowledged that there was more there in us and there needed to be more in us, it really came down to work-rate and upping the intensity.

"We just picked up the spirits I suppose, it was a weird few days, we were down after but we picked it up in time.

"The next three weeks, although it's tough and we've loads of work to do, it's really enjoyable preparing for an All-Ireland final, it's absolutely brilliant.

"We're going to have a serious challenge, we've more work to do and we'll get down to it during the week, we'll enjoy this, but there's no doubt there's room for improvement. Preparing for an All-Ireland final is absolutely savage."