Ciarán Russell can never be accused of not being committed to the cause. Due to work commitments, the Garda had been commuting up and down from Dublin for training and games since rejoining the Clare panel in 2020.

However, in February, Russell has been relocated and now works out of Mayorstone Park Garda Station in Limerick.

The 30-year-old admits the move is a major help to his inter-county career as he no longer needs to endure the arduous road trips from the capital down to Clare.

“I’m spending less time travelling and less time in a car so that’s better for the body. I’m able to train a lot more. I’d try travel up and down as much as I could but sometimes it might not have been possible.

“Balancing everything is probably getting harder from when I started out. At the end of the day you make room for what you like doing. If you enjoy it you will keep going.

“Up in Dublin it was starting to get harder and harder with all the travelling and time away. Now I’ve more time at home and in fairness it’s made easier by having a great group of lads in the set-up.”

For the first time since a Munster semi-final loss to Kerry in 2019, Clare will be able to call upon home advantage in Championship battle.

For Colm Collins’ charges this weekend, they know the importance of a strong start to help involve the home crowd with Limerick sure to bring a vocal support after their promotion from Division Three this spring.

“With Cusack Park it’s always good to play there whether it’s League or Championship. Colm tells us any team that comes in here has to earn it so we hope to make home advantage count.

“We hope the weather is nice so we can have a good game. It’s a big field which I believe suits us so we’re all looking forward to getting back playing Championship football there again.”

After a fine start to their league campaign, Clare suffered three defeats on the spin which halted any momentum generated.

Russell returned to the fray in his side’s fifth game of the league against Galway after marrying long term partner Amy McDermott in February.

A final round win over Down helped snap the losing streak although the Éire Óg clubman admits they had areas to work on after their campaign finished.

“We were trying a couple of new systems. For myself I just happened to be getting married. I was lucky enough to jump straight in and lucky enough to stay in. After a couple of training sessions you want to get straight back in to it.

“We had a great start and got a couple of points on the board in our first few games. We had some even games which you’d expect in Division Two but we lost out by small margins. We were happy enough but there was plenty to improve on.

“We wouldn’t have been happy with our shooting efficiency. Turnovers are huge. If you give the ball away cheaply then you could be in trouble.

“As a team we have been up there in terms of conceding few scores so we want to keep that going. We’re trying to be tight at the back while being fast in transition and getting the forwards in good positions.”

Having lined out with Kilmacud Crokes in 2019, Russell possessed a hunger to return to the Clare and Éire Óg jerseys.

However, the pandemic led to the Football Championship to be played on a knockout basis with Clare falling at the first hurdle against Tipperary in 2020 before succumbing to Kerry the following year.

Despite widespread calls to change the format of the Football Championship, Russell refuses to make any excuses for his side’s early exits.

“It was difficult with the knockout system and we wouldn’t be happy with being knocked out early. Drawing Kerry is not ideal but we want to beat everyone we face. It was knockout for everyone, not just us so we were disappointed when we were beaten both times.

“This year we don’t plan on entering the qualifiers too early. We want to get wins under our belt and see where it takes us. It’s the same Championship for everybody so any day you go out you look to win and that will be the case on Saturday.”

After lifting the Jack Daly Cup last year with Éire Óg, Russell admitted that after the Townies fell at the quarter-final stage in the previous four years, he began to fear that they would never claim that elusive county title.

“It was great. Something everyone wants to do is to win a Championship with their club. We always knew we had the players but we had been coming up short since. You start to think will it ever happen. We were delighted to get over the line.

“When I was playing with Kilmacud I’d come and watch the lads when I could. I’d have found it tough had I not been involved when we won one so I was delighted to be a part of it. When you win one you want to win more.”

To make last year’s Championship run even sweeter was the fact that his father Tom was part of the backroom team. The 30-year-old admits that Tom’s involvement made the success that bit sweeter.

“That’s also great. There are a lot of lads playing with brothers and cousins so that’s what the Club Championship is all about. Sometimes it can be tough after defeats when you have both of us being involved.

“He does know what to say at the right time and he was the first person I met when the final whistle went so it was great.”

When the draw for the Championship was made last November, there was a sense that Clare, Limerick, Waterford and Tipperary had all been presented with an opportunity with Cork facing Kerry on the opposite side of the equation.

“At the start of every year we set goals as a panel and a team. One of the goals every year is to get to a Munster final. We have the belief that we can get there and then anything can happen.”

Despite the Éire Óg man now working in Limerick, he doesn’t have interactions with any of the current panel.

However, he is keenly aware of what Billy Lee’s players will bring to Cusack Park on Saturday evening as Limerick will no doubt be bristling with confidence after securing promotion from Division Three.

“We’ve watched a few of their games and they work very hard off the ball. They are a fit and physical team while they are hard to break down.

“They have made a great run this year and are not short of confidence. We’ve played each other a lot and it’s usually small margins that decide these games.”