Hurlers at home to Galway on Saturday
Four forwards facing fitness tests
FOLLOWING GALWAY’S second-half display in demolishing the reigning All-Ireland champions, Tipperary, Wexford’s expectations will be lowered considerably when the two sides meet in the Allianz Hurling League quarter-final in Chadwicks Wexford Park on Saturday (3 p.m.).
Seven points adrift at the break, the westerners turned in quite a remarkable second-half to eventually win by an eight-point margin.
And the 15-point turnaround cast aside all those suggestions that they were struggling to compete at the highest level in the absence of the injured Joe Canning.
And given what happened in Salthill on Sunday, maybe Wexford supporters will be more realistic in the build-up to the game, and not apply pressure on the players, particularly as manager Davy Fitzgerald is keen to play down their chances.
Then again, Wexford are most dangerous when expectations are lowered, but they have worked hard to secure a quarter-final spot, with their sights set on progressing further and securing a semi-final place.
At this juncture, with the knockout stages having arrived, sides will see this as ideal preparation in the lead-in to the championship in May, so one can expect some classic games over the coming weekends.
There are many positives to take out of Wexford’s league campaign, principally that Fitzgerald has added to his squad and created more competition for places.
Still, when it comes down to the 15 that will face Galway, barring injury, one expects to see little change from the side which suffered that agonising All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Tipperary.
When Wexford last played Galway in the championship, they forged an excellent draw down in Pearse Stadium in Salthill which kept their eventual march to the provincial decider on track.
But who knows what this league clash will bring as both sides will also lock horns in the provincial championship at a later date.
They should be anxious to lay down a marker as a result.
Wexford are expected to show a number of changes from the side which defeated Carlow, while several regulars are still struggling to overcome injury concerns.
Manager Fitzgerald is still concerned regarding the availability a number of his forwards, claiming he would be happy should a couple of them come through fitness tests later in the week.
With David Dunne still out of contention with a quad injury, Fitzgerald stated that four of his attackers - Lee Chin (hamstring), Rory O’Connor (hamstring), Paul Morris (hamstring) and Conor McDonald (achilles tendon) - are major doubts for the game.
‘The four players mentioned have not participated in full training over the past two weeks. I will be waiting until later in the week for further updates on their progress,’ he said.
‘If they don’t train this week it’s difficult to see them starting. I’m hoping that at least two of them will be available. I would be happy with that.’
Fitzgerald revealed that McDonald is going for further x-rays on his achilles tendon problem this week.
‘Hopefully, we’ll know more after that,’ he added.
Fitzgerald was in Salthill on Sunday and clearly impressed with Galway’s display against Tipperary.
‘They may have turned it on in the second-half but they were also very good in the first-half into the wind. They were clearly the better team.
‘Look, for us it’s going to be a massive test. It’s nice to still be playing competitive hurling at this stage.
‘We are looking forward to the game and will give it our best shot,’ he added.