Former Déise boss John 'Jackson' Kiely believes that the Waterford SFC is a three-horse race ahead of this weekend's quarter finals.

Old rivals The Nire and Stradbally will go head to head on Sunday afternoon at Fraher Field.

"To be honest, the championship looks to be between Rathgormack, Ballinacourty and The Nire," Kiely told WLR's Lár Na Páirce show. "I think Stradbally have slipped back a bit. The good players that have retired and are missing through injury, they just haven't been replaced. They're probably in the same boat as Kilrossanty; they're in team building at the minute."

Michael 'Brick' Walsh is player-manager with Stradbally this season and Kiely is full of admiration for him. "If you were picking the best club players of the last 40 or 50 years, he'd be on the team. He'd on the hurling team as well. He has been a fantastic servant to Stradbally and to Waterford. The drive that's in that man."

Click on the image above to listen back to the full chat with John Kiely.