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JOEY O’BRIEN wants his players to go for the jugular against out-of-season Linfield.

The Blues have played just two games – a friendly and Charity Shield match – to prepare for their Champions League qualifier against Shelbourne.

And O’Brien hopes his side’s match sharpness can come to the fore at Tolka Park.

O’Brien said: “It’s about a fast start. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Champions League game or a league game. When we play anyone here, we’re here to win.

“We go out and attack the game to win. That’s not going to change.

“The atmosphere will be up but it’s also about not getting too emotional, being in control of the performance, wanting it but not wanting it too much that you tighten up and can’t perform.

“That’s something that we’ve spoken about – attacking the game but not being too desperate or otherwise your performance suffers.”

Opposite number David Healy said: “We’ve been in nearly a month now, we’ve prepared as best as we can. 

“It’s probably not like pre-seasons gone by where players are a little bit more unhealthy and whatever else. Now the players are a bit more considerate in what they do in the off-season.”

MEATH ace Jordan Morris went from hell in March to heaven in June. 

The Kingscourt clubman, 24, thought his year was over when he suffered horror injuries in their NFL Division 2 loss to Louth four months ago. 

Morris had a fractured tibia and grade two tears in his ACL and PCL knee ligaments. 

But after digesting the news, he decided to fight for his season – and returned to the pitch in their Leinster final defeat to the Wee County less than two months later. 

Losing that game was a bitter pill to swallow, but Morris’ risk paid off. He has starred in Meath’s run to their first All-Ireland semi-final since 2009 against Donegal, and never looked back. 

He said: “Probably the overriding feeling straight after that Louth game was that was my year done.  It probably took maybe a week or a week and a half to get a full grasp of what happened. 

“But the doctors and physios I was dealing with were very good, they laid out a pathway straightaway. 

“I think I was given maybe eight weeks to get back on the pitch and I think I managed to get back in six, pushing and driving it on. 

So I just was trying to do everything I could to get back on the panel and matchday squad.

“I would have been rehabbing three times a day, injections and stuff like that to get back on the pitch, and then the S&C work you have to do. 

“It’s mad within even a week of not playing how much you can lose a bit of match fitness. I think that was probably a thought in my mind and on the physios’, to get back to that level of gameplay and stuff like that. 

“It was so hard to go back to it. The S&C coaches, Philip Campbell and David Drake, are probably one of the best I’ve ever worked with.

“They got me back in a position to get out on the pitch in the Leinster final, so I can only thank them as well. 

“I’m taking a bit of a risk as it is, but with the year we were having, I couldn’t miss out on it.” 

Meath have had the summer of their dreams. Beating Dublin in championship football for the first time since 2010 lit the flames, but missing out on provincial glory to Louth was a harsh reality check. 

But Robbie Brennan’s men dusted themselves down and reset – and topped their All-Ireland series group to storm into the last eight. 

They took Kerry’s scalp in their final group game to book a quarter-final spot.

Galway were their next victims when Morris fired 1-6 in a stunning 2-16 to 2-15 win, which saw him bag the PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month award for June.  

Donegal stand in their way of a first final since 2001, and Morris says losing the Leinster final was the kick in the backside they needed. 

He said: “It probably took us a few days to get the show back on the road. I think it was maybe Thursday’s session, everyone sat down and had a bit of a meeting. 

“We were just like, ‘What do we want to get out of the year now?’ So we set our plans in place and we said, ‘Look, we’re going to tear into it,’ so that’s what we did.

“We were straight back on the horse. I think it was the Cork game two weeks after the Leinster final. We had no time to really dwell on the Louth game. We took a bit of analysis out of it and moved on. It was just sharp like that.

“Just chatting to the boys during the week, it’s grown us as a group massively. Louth probably taught us a bit of a lesson in the last five minutes of keeping the ball. 

“It’s something we probably learned from them going into games like this in Croke Park, trying to turn momentum and different things like that so it definitely stood us in good stead against Galway.”

Morris thought scoring a goal into Hill 16 was never going to happen back in March, but he lapped it up after hitting the net against Galway. 

Meath’s journey has given their supporters something to cheer about, 26 years on from their last All-Ireland title – and their hitman has no intention of stopping now. 

GOAL RUSH

He said: “Scoring a goal into Hill 16 is unbelievable. No feeling will ever, or words will describe it.

“It’s something I’ve seen plenty of teams doing in the past. It’s something you probably only dream about really, so to do it was great.

“I remember being on the Hill in 2010 when Meath won Leinster against Louth. That’s probably my earliest memory of Croke Park, I’d say. 

“So to get out on the field and cheer on your heroes, you think back to those days. Now for kids looking up at the likes of the boys on our team, I was once one of those kids. 

“I think we’ve always had the footballers, I think the new rules probably blended into our style of play a little bit more. You have to put in the hard work as well. 

“That’s what we’re doing at the minute. We’re not reading into hype or any of that. We have the lads around us to help us out in that aspect.

“We know we’re going to be up against it at the weekend, there’s no doubt about that. Look, we know the ability we have, we just have to keep our heads down.” 

TYRONE are planning for Saturday’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Kerry without star defender Michael McKernan.

Assistant coach Colm McCullagh revealed time is “running out” for the Coalisland ace to recover from the shoulder injury he sustained against Cavan three weeks ago.

The Red Hand County had hoped that McKernan would be back if they made it past Dublin in the quarter-finals.

The team kept their end of the bargain, beating the Dubs by seven points.

However McCullagh has all but dashed those hopes just a few days out from the last-four showdown in Croke Park.

He said: “Michael is improving, he is coming on, but this weekend will be too soon for him.

“He picked up a fairly serious enough shoulder injury early on against Cavan and it’s no-contact stuff for him.

“Unless there is a major improvement in the next couple of days it is looking very unlikely.”

While Tyrone’s form has been patchy, McKernan has been a consistent performers.

As well as looking after his defensive duties, he has used the new rules to his advantage — kicking four two-pointers in the NFL and one in the SFC.

He also chipped in with league goals against Derry and Dublin, though Tyrone were still relegated to Division 2.

But he shipped a heavy knock against Cavan and left the field in Brewster Park in real distress.

With huge talents Seán O’Shea and the Clifford brothers, David and Paudie, among those Tyrone need to keep tabs on this weekend, his absence will be a blow.

McCullagh added: “Michael is trying his best to make it work for him, he is doing all he can and the medical team are doing all they can.

“It’s just the time could be running out for him possibly. We have a clean bill of health otherwise, a few wee niggles but nothing serious.”

Killyclogher forward Mark ‘Sparky’ Bradley has declared his fitness for the Kerry clash having sat out the last two games.

Bradley said: “I’ve had a few niggles throughout the year with my calves, it’s very unpredictable.

“You could be doing a warm-up and you just feel it. It’s not like sprinting or like with your hamstring where you know you’re going to hurt it.

“But it’s all good, I’m training away and hoping to be selected.”

DIARMUID CONNOLLY is backing Ger Brennan for the Dublin job.

Connolly’s St. Vincent’s clubmate is the red hot favourite for the gig after stepping down as Louth boss last week. 

Brennan led the Wee County to their first Leinster title in 68 years this summer, and quit the post just three days after Dessie Farrell vacated the Dublin hotseat. 

Connolly would love to see his old pal get the nod – but insists whoever gets it needs to scour the capital for new talent after their limp All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Tyrone. 

He said: “Gerry’s a really good man manager. He’s always with a smile on his face. I doubt he’d be overawed by the job at all. 

“He’s the sort of guy that can walk in anywhere and fill the room. Even talking to guys that are out working with him in UCD and stuff, he’s a really good guy to have around. 

“He’s a good motivator too. That Louth team hadn’t won in a long few years. He brought them to success. I thought it was a bit leftfield, maybe leaving so early. 

“Look, if he’s the man for the job, I think everybody should get behind him.”

Connolly knows Brennan would be a great fit for the hotseat, but admits there are plenty of candidates who might fancy it. 

The seven-time All-Ireland winner says no matter who gets the nod needs to scour the county for new talent – and insists the Dubs have not gone away. 

He said: “To be honest, from looking in from the outside, there wasn’t any underage managers coming through that you’d say, ‘Oh yeah, he’s nailed on.’ 

“So yeah, you’d have to look to Ger Brennan in that sense, because he had success at the level we’re talking about. 

“For me, probably Robbie Brennan would have been front and centre in that conversation. I know Dec Darcy has been put in the loop, Johnny Cooper has been put in the loop.

“Ger looks like, the rumour on the ground is that he has first refusal on the job, but I don’t know if that’s actually true. I haven’t spoke to the man myself, so I don’t know whether that’s true or not.

“It’s very easy to jump on the bandwagon and say Dublin are finished – they’re on the decline, they’re this, that and the other. 

“The next manager slash coaching team that come in, will hopefully throw the net far and wide in Dublin GAA circles.

“I know the players that are in that Dublin camp. I know the players that are playing club football in Dublin and there is serious talent there.”

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The story Thailand flexes soft power with food and film frenzy as seen on Thaiger News.

It was an early wake-up call with handcuffs for three drug suspects in Phuket after a series of dawn raids uncovered meth pills, crystal ice, and a stash of illegal firearms, including a boat mechanic armed to the teeth. The dramatic swoops kicked off at 3am yesterday, July 8, in Srisoonthorn and Koh Kaew, led …

The story Drug suspects in Phuket: 1 pill, 1 gun, 1 boat shop of trouble as seen on Thaiger News.

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The post Netizen Annoyed After Uninvited Cousin Crashes Her Mom’s Birthday Celebration  appeared first on PhilNews.

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The story Thailand Video News | Trump targets Thai imports with 36% tariff in escalating trade push, Thailand bans monkey labour in coconut industry amid global backlash as seen on Thaiger News.