Injury list a major problem for Meath

Eamonn O"Brien insists Meath are on schedule in their preparations for the eagerly awaited Leinster SFC first round clash with Dublin on Sunday, 7th June despite a number of defeats in recent challenge games. The Meath manager brought a panel of players down south to Killarney for a challenge game against Jack O"Connor"s newly crowned NFL Div 1 champions on Friday evening. However, Kerry showed little hospitality on the field of play as they recorded a 1-18 to 1-16 victory against the Royal County. The loss to the Kingdom follows recent setbacks against Galway and Leitrim although in all these games there has been a very experimental look to the Meath teams. 'You would like to be winning all your games, but at the same time it is not the main objective,' O"Brien told the Meath Chronicle. 'The objective is to get games into guys before the Dublin match, but challenge games are not the same as competition. 'We are using them to get fellows attuned to football, that"s the main objective. We"re on schedule, but you would like to have the full deck to play from.' One of the most encouraging aspects of Meath"s display against Kerry was the appearance of a number of players who are on their way back from injuries. 'The whole objective of the exercise was to give players a run out. We got a few players out and gave them some football, but we didn"t risk any of them too much as they are still recovering,' said O"Brien. 'Kevin Reilly is out, but he should be okay, Brian Farrell got 30 minutes football into him, the same as Nigel Crawford, but we couldn"t risk them any more than that, Cormac McGuinness the same, we have to nurse them along. We couldn"t risk them for a full game.' O"Brien will be happy to see the return of some of the more experienced members of his squad especially as in recent months there have been up to nine or 10 players on the injured list, a high percentage of them with hamstring problems. Cormac McGill and David Bray are the main injury concerns a this stage. Meath trained on Saturday in Killarney before returning home on Sunday. The Leinster SFC clash against Dublin will be televised live on RTE, but ticket information will be available this week from Meath Co Committee and family tickets for the double-header at Croke Park, Dublin will also play Antrim in the Leinster SHC, are available from Leinster Council. Meath supporters will have plenty of opportunities to see some inter-county action of the knock-out variety at Pairc Tailteann over the next week or so. Meath minor football manager Pat Coyle will be bidding to plot a way to the Leinster semi-final when his team face Westmeath in Navan on Saturday, 2.0 and the following Wednesday the junior footballers will be in action. Following last Wednesday"s victory over Wexford in the Leinster JFC, Kit Henry"s side will face Longford at Pairc Tailteann on Wednesday, 23rd May, 7.30. All guaranteed to whet the appetitite ahead of the Croke Park showdown next month