Final selection issues for Cody and O'Shea

Kilkenny and Tipperary will name their teams for Saturday's All-Ireland final replay on Thursday night.

Brian Cody and Eamon O'Shea have had just under three weeks to process the epic drawn game and to consider what changes in personnel - if any - need to be made for the replay.

First up, Tipperary. O'Shea appears to have settled on his best 15 and with no major injury worries, all the signs point to him naming the very same team again.

In fact, Tipperary have started with the same team ever since the quarter-final win over Dublin and by going with the same line-up again, O'Shea would be naming an unchanged team for the fourth successive game.

The only real decision to be made is over All Star Michael Cahill, who has struggled to get back into the team since losing his place before the Dublin game.

Cahill came on with 20 minutes to go in the drawn game and made a real impact in a more advanced role, scoring a vital point from play.

Writing in his latest column for GAA.ie, former Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins says Cahill could yet play an important role for the Premier County.

"(Eamon) O'Shea will not be immune either to a sleepless night over a crucial decision. And that is whether or not to play Michael Cahill or hold him in reserve, in the hope that he can come on to help finish the job.

"It's hard to pinpoint a Tipperary player that you could leave out to accommodate Cahill but if Tipperary are going to beat Kilkenny, Cahill will have to get more than 20 minutes' game time."

Niall O'Meara is pushing for a place in the match-day 26 having recovered from an ankle injury. O'Meara flew out to the US for a four-month teaching placement the day after the drawn game, but decided to return home almost immediately and was back training with the squad the following Thursday.

Cody, meanwhile, has a number of selection headaches and the formula he comes up with for the replay will, as always, be eagerly awaited.

He has already spoken at length this week about Henry Shefflin's unique 'situation' , and it appears that Cody will not bow to sentiment and slot him into the attack as the Ballyhale legend seeks a 10th All-Ireland medal.

However, the Kilkenny manager almost always makes changes from game to game and few would be surprised if he doesn't make at least two switches from the drawn game.

One of the big calls he made for the final was to recall Walter Walsh in attack, but the big Tullogher-Rosbercon man failed to make any real impact and will struggle to retain his place according to Cummins.

"Walter will have learned that height alone close to goal will not get the job done. It has to be combined with movement and this could possibly be a job for John Power on Saturday," says Cummins.

Power's inclusion from the start would be a brave move from Cody, the 22-year-old having started just one championship match for the Cats - the Leinster final defeat of Dublin - and come on in the 72nd minute of the drawn game.

Elsewhere, there is talk that Pádraig Walsh is pushing for a place in the half-back line after his preparations for the semi-final win over Limerick and the drawn final were hampered by illness and injury.

For the 2012 All-Ireland final replay against Galway, Cody brought Walter Walsh in for his starting debut at full-forward and he subsequently won the Man-of-the-Match award, while Cillian Buckley was also a surprise inclusion in the half-forward line.

While Cody is unlikely to make such radical calls this time around, nobody would be surprised if he does make a number of changes. Remarkably, in the 71 championship games Cody has been in charge for, he has now named an unchanged line-up just seven times.

The Kilkenny and Tipperary teams will be named on Thursday night.