Last year Meath gave eventual All Ireland champions Dublin a few worries in the Leinster final and as both sides prepare to battle again for the same trophy, ex-Dublin forward Jason Sherlock told Off The Ball that the Royals are capable of giving Jim Gavin's side a few headaches.
"Meath have struggled a little bit recently in terms of consistency and there has been a lot of transition. Mick O'Dowd over the last few years has steadily improved things and they've had a bit of underage success as well," said Sherlock, who believes the Royals can draw optimism from the way they beat Kildare.
"Certainly from what we've seen of Meath and Dublin, they certainly have a chance on Sunday. Meath do have the gameplan to worry and endanger Dublin. I can see Meath being in there after half-time up to 40 minutes and 50 minutes. But that's where I think the questions are going to be asked, losing the likes of Gillespie and Wallace. Will they have the strength in depth to be able to maintain that game right till the 70th minute?"
Stats for Sunday #Meath average 2.0 goals (9 games) #Dublin subs have scored 4-44 (11 games) Dubs 1st-half champ scores 0-18 v 2nd-half 4-28
— Tommy Rooney (@TomasORuanaidh) July 17, 2014
The Irish Sun's Gordon Manning and our own Colm 'Wooly' Parkinson were in studio to preview the game and Manning feels the Dubs' strength in depth really resides in the forward line rather than further back the field.
"I would question it where people talk about the strength of their bench. The strength of their bench is phenomenal in the forwards . But you'd wonder in the backs and midfield whether there are many players that come into that side who would walk onto the Meath team or the Kildare team or a Top 5 or Top 6 team. If they get injuries at the back, I would wonder whether their bench is as strong as people think."
The lads also analysed the strengths and weaknesses of both teams and their approaches in depth, which you can listen to via the podcast.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
