Attacking ace Paul Kelly and car crash victim John O'Brien are definitely ruled out of the Limerick game, while there are doubts also over the participation of Paul Ormonde and Lar Corbett.

Thurles Sarsfields player Corbett captained Tipperary for the first time against Waterford in last year's All-Ireland SHC quarter-final but is a major doubt for the 2007 championship opener, while Ormonde broke his ribs in a recent outing for his club Loughmore-Castleiney.

Tipperary took on Offaly last week in a challenge game, losing the fixture by three points. The game did give Keating a chance to look at some players, including the 23-year-old Conor O'Mahony, but the Tipp boss was not impressed with the Newport player's display.

"It was Conor's first test back and we kind of built our hopes around him but he wasn't up to the pace," Keating told breakingnews.ie.

The Tipperary manager is a veteran on the sidelines and he feels that the hunger in this current squad is as great as it ever has been.

"I think the hunger is equal," he said. "You can't blame guys for not being hungry.

"A lot of them have been sitting down in the last few weeks, while for others you can't blame them for being hungry if they have been going to a physio three or four days a week and that is the situation we find ourselves in.

"We went to Rosslare for five days' training and it was the hungriest Tipperary team I have ever seen and when we came home we were unlucky not to beat Limerick and when we beat Kilkenny at Nowlan Park, we were on a roll. Just we were hurt badly since."

However, injury problems have not been kind to Tipperary and Babs knows it is crucial to be picking from a full squad for the championship.

"80% of the team are going according to plan but having said that, one mistake and one poor performance against Limerick would cost us," he admitted.

"80% is no good, in fact 99% is no good at times. We are looking for the full shilling and from that point of view we are concerned."