"We also know the challenge that's ahead of us. Clare have been in the top two teams for the last four or five years, in my estimation.
"There'll be huge support up there from two mad hurling counties. It's a 50:50 game. Hopefully we'll get the bounce of the ball on the day and bring Liam MacCarthy home."
It seemed improbable that Cork would wind up in this spot midway through the Munster championship, after opening defeats to Waterford and Clare.
To stay alive, they needed to overcome John Kiely's quasi-invincible outfit in Round 3. Despite a stunning first half display, they found themselves behind in the dying seconds until Shane Kingston's last-ditch charge of the light brigade. The Cork attacker was hauled down by Kyle Hayes and the ageless Patrick Horgan lashed home the winning penalty.
"Being beaten by Waterford and Clare were disappointing results," says Ryan. "But we felt we performed very well against Clare that night. We know how good Clare are, we've seen how good they are.
"We knew our backs were to the wall (against Limerick). And in fairness to these players, when their backs were to the wall before, they've always performed. We got massive support on the night, from the huge Cork crowd that came down.
"That belief was there in ourselves (for the semi-final). We knew we were going to perform on the day. We were good value for our win.
"It was just our efficiency and those one or two scores we were able to take. And they had one or two wides towards the end which was uncharacteristic of them."
"We also know the challenge that's ahead of us. Clare have been in the top two teams for the last four or five years, in my estimation"
Cork have lost to Clare three years running in the championship but Ryan feels they're in a different place, particularly in front of the posts.
"In the modern game, it's about consistency across the board. But realistically, we'll all say that the middle eight is a really important thing, how you do on puckouts and how you win that breaking ball.
"That efficiency in your scoring rate, that's something we've been excellent at this year. We haven't had many fallow periods. We've been able to keep the scoreboard ticking over and that's kept us in games.
"Probably last year, we weren't keeping that scoreboard ticking over. That'll be huge. It's important we don't have any of those fallow periods and when Clare have the ascendancy, we limit them as much as we can."
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