Tipperary captain Seamus Callanan acknowledges the need for improvement if his side are to avoid another early championship exit.

The Premier County failed to make it through the new Munster SHC round-robin series last summer and suffered a surprise home defeat to Dublin in last month's Allianz Hurling League quarter-final. In contrast, neighbours Limerick are riding the crest of a wave after putting All-Ireland and Allianz League titles back-to-back.

“Yeah, they look good,” the three-time All Star said at yesterday's Bord Gais Energy sponsorship event.

“They’re playing with huge confidence and working very hard. So they’re obviously the benchmark at the moment and the rest of us need to try and get up there.

“We have a lot of work to do before we can even think about dining at the top table.”

Callanan admits that last year's championship campaign wasn't good enough for a county of Tipp's stature. 

“Sure, look there’s no positives really about it: June 9th I think it was when we were gone last year. It has never really happened before as long as I’ve been there. We had such a fine summer in terms of weather, and it was very hard to be out of it that early, but it’s a results-driven business that we’re in.”

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