There is also likely to be a number of personnel changes from the starting line-up for the quarter-final victory over Roscommon.

It’s not the smoothest preparation for Sunday’s semi-final but Counihan said that the management team is used to juggling resources at this stage.

Canty and Sheehan have been battling hamstring and knee injuries respectively since the Roscommon victory and while the Eire Óg man has responded well to treatment for a cartilage problem, Canty’s prospects are less favourable.

"The reality of the situation is that we’re picking a team now but that may not be the team that starts because of injuries," said Counihan.

"We just don’t know yet with the two lads. They could need the time between now and the weekend to get right. We hope that a clearer picture will emerge closer to the game."

It presents another huge judgement call for the Cork management team which has faced criticism in the past for their selections, not least in the wake of last September’s All-Ireland final defeat to Kerry.

There’s a growing view that win or lose this season, Counihan may not seek another term as Cork coach, a further indication of the pressure and intensity at this level.

"Pundits aren’t aware of what goes on in training, who is fit, who’s going well," Counihan explained. "Fellas come into form at different stages of the season; you go in with a set 15 in your head and then some guy goes off the boil and some other player finds a bit of form.

"The biggest factor for us this year has been injuries. You just didn’t know who you had and when you had them," Counihan explained.

"It would be a great headache to have everyone fit for Sunday. It would present us with a problem but it’s a problem we’d love. Some guysare capable of playing 30 minutes, not 70 – do you start them, do you bring them in?" he said.

Such is the case with midfielder Nicholas Murphy, who is pushing hard for a starting place after an impressive cameo against Roscommon, and defender John Miskella.

If both started and Eoin Cadogan came into the defence for Canty, Cork could end up with five changes from the starting 15 against the Connacht champions, a third of the team.

Getting the mix right is something that has eluded Cork this season, but they’ve been winning nonetheless.

"You get 70 minutes on the day to get it right and we haven’t played as well or as attractively as last year," admitted Counihan, "but perhaps some teams have set themselves up to stop that in a way.

"Defensively we are conceding less than we were last year and I’d say we’ve had patches in all the games where we did play well. The issue for us is that we didn’t sustain it over a longer period of time."

If Ciarán Sheehan declares himself fit to start, that could mean Colm O’Neill is the odd one out in aforward division that is likely toinclude Donncha O’Connor from the start. The Cork selectors have anumber of midfield options and if they opt not to start Nicholas Murphy, it will be two of three from Derek Kavanagh, Alan O’Connor or Aidan Walsh.