With so many out, who will be in?

Meath manager Eamonn O'Brien has called on the members of the Meath panel to step up to the mark and take the opportunities on offer as his team faces into Sunday's Leinster SFC first round clash with Offaly against the backdrop of a crippling injury list. O'Brien will have to plan for the eagerly-awaited contest against the Faithful County without a number of players who would otherwise be expected to get the green light. "Jamie (Queeney) is doubtful and Ollie Lewis is out, I would say they are unlikely to play any part," the manager told the Meath Chronicle on Tuesday. "Brian Sheridan is out, Brendan Murphy is out, then you have David (Bray) and Nialler (McKeigue) who we lost earlier in the year," he added. "You would really want to be planning for a game like this with a full panel, but I suppose that's what you need a panel for to, hopefully, be able to deal with situations like we find ourselves in at the moment. I suppose it will be a measure of how the other lads step up to the plate now," he said. Kevin Reilly became the latest to join the list of the walking wounded when he pulled up in training last Saturday with what looked to be a hamstring problem, although, at the time of writing, the manager suggested that the injury may also be a consequence of the back problem that has afflicted the Navan O'Mahonys player for over a year. "It's looking dodgy, if that's the right word, for Kevin at the moment, it could also be something to do with the back, we're not sure, we're getting it assessed, it looked more like a hamstring." Shane O'Rourke also received a cut to his leg over the past week although the Simonstown player is expected to feature. O'Brien joined the growing chorus of inter-county managers who have expressed their unease about the new interpretation of the handpass rule. Wicklow manager Mick O'Dwyer was particularly scathing of the new rule after his side defeated Carlow in the Leinster SFC on Sunday and O'Brien fears its introduction could lead to a farcical situation. "When there's ambiguity around a rule it is not a good rule, a rule should be clear and easy to interpret for everybody, it shouldn't be open to different interpretations from different people," he said. "To my mind this new rule can't be interpreted clearly, that's the way it is at the moment, maybe it has to be clarified, but at the minute it seems to be unclear. "Last Sunday I saw good handpasses pulled up. It's ambiguous and that's a dangerous rule, good passes are going to be penalised and maybe cost a team scores. "To my mind you can strike a ball from three inches, you don't have to bring your hand back. "We played against Galway last week and Joe McQuillan pulled up four or five of the passes and he told us he could have pulled up another 20. If that's the case, it's going to be a right mess," he concluded. Sunday's game at O'Moore Park is all-ticket and both teams will change their colours to avoid a clash. Meath will wear their second choice yellow jerseys while it's believed that Offaly will wear white. Sunday's game will mark a championship debut for Meath's new sponsor Comer Group, the third sponsor of the decade for the Meath football team. Ticket winners in our competition were Sarah Shaffrey, Navan, Jim White, Navan and Margaret Farrelly, Carnaross.