The general reaction to Meath's Leinster championship opener was fairly muted as they edged Wicklow by a 2-19 to 3-12 scoreline two weeks ago.
Former Royals full-foward Cian Ward was at that match and he told Off The Ball that he expects personnel changes when they take on neighbours Westmeath in the semi-final which we will broadcast live this afternoon.
"I would expect a good few changes from the last day and, really, no matter how good of a team you have, if you're missing some of your stronger leaders, it's difficult. You're not going to perform to the required level. There were five or six debutants in the championship, so the positive you would take from the last day is that all of those guys played and have a better indication of what it's all about, playing a championship match," he said.
However, Ward has a few concerns from what he saw of that match.
"Wicklow had a very poor campaign in the build-up to the match against Meath. There was a rumour swirling that they couldn't even field a team for a challenge match two weeks out from the game. So that wouldn't inspire you with confidence when you see how Meath performed against them. So a huge, huge improvement is required by them if they're to go any further."
Meath v Westmeath is live on Off The Ball today with commentary from Dave McIntyre. Throw in is at 2pm. Listen into more of Ward's pre-match thoughts as well as analysis from James Horan 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.
