'We have to pick ourselves up'
MEATH NFL PREVIEW
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Wednesday March 17 2010
TWO NFL points rather than the performance is paramount for Meath when they welcome Laois to Pairc Tailteann for round 5 of the Division 2 campaign this Saturday evening at 7.30pm.
The O'Moore County is in a similar position to the Royals with two wins and two defeats from their four outings.
The display in Tipperary was a new low for Meath last Sunday and it is doubtful if they can play so bad again, but then we said something similar following the laboured win over Westmeath.
This is the first real crisis of Eamonn O'Brien's reign as manager and he may have to revert to picking players in their best positions rather than 'putting square pegs in round holes.'
'It hasn't happened for us but I don't think it's an issue that players are not trying or we are trying to put it right,' O'Brien said after the defeat to Tipperary.
'Its not just going the way we would like it at the moment but that is the nature of football and we take it and try and learn from what happened over the last couple of games and improve as a result of it.
'We need everyone fit – we need Cormac McGuinness and Kevin Reilly back. All the teams in this division are competitive now there are no easy games and you have to be playing very well to be beating them.
'The lads are down after that performance but hopefully they will be able to pick themselves up for Laois,' O'Brien concluded.
The return of Shane O'Rourke to action after a lengthy spell out through injury is a boost though O'Brien is unlikely to be able to call on Cormac McGuinness for this match either.
Laois has shown erratic form in the league but went on something of a scoring spree to defeat Westmeath 024 to 3-8.
Michael John Tierney scored 13 points in that win for Sean Dempsey's men while Donie Kingston and Niall Donoher scored 0-4 and 0-3 respectively.
The midlanders also beat Tipperary but lost to Donegal and Armagh.
- Sean WALL
