Rossiter’s headache on injuries
NEW Wexford manager Keith Rossiter says he’s “juggling dynamite” when it comes to his lengthy injury list.
Wexford will be considerably understrength for Sunday’s National League opener against Kilkenny.
Lee Chin, Jack O’connor, Damien Reck and Kevin Foley were the only experienced players that started last weekend’s Walsh Cup final win over Galway.
Rossiter said there are around ‘10-plus at the minute that we need to get right’.
But he revealed that it’ll be ‘a slow burner’ and that many of his regulars won’t be back until later in the league.
Matthew O’hanlon, Liam Og Mcgovern, Diarmuid O’keeffe, Conor Mcdonald, Oisin Foley, Liam Ryan and Rory O’connor were high profile absentees throughout the Walsh Cup.
Rossiter said “I have the fingers crossed that everything will go according to plan. But come the time in the middle of the League, you wouldn’t know what will be after happening. You’re sort of juggling dynamite to a certain extent with some of the injuries where one little setback could cost you four or five weeks.”
Former Wexford defender Rossiter, who guided the under-20s to back to back Leinster finals in 2022 and 2023, said the local championship structure was challenging.
Wexford played their hurling Championship first last summer before the football games then kicked in. That system has since been scrapped.
Rossiter said: “What we had was that lads came off the back of an inter-county championship after beating Kilkenny in Wexford Park last year and they moved on to the club championship straight away and it was five or six weeks in a row.
“So far any county player going back to his club carrying any bit of a knock from the Championship, you’re not getting a chance to look after it.”