Rossiter: O’Connor returns but Wexford are ‘underdogs’

Wexford hurling boss Keith Rossiter can call on Rory O’Connor for Sunday’s Leinster SHC opener against Dublin with the Model attacker set to make his first competitive appearance of the season.

O’Connor has been ravaged by injury in recent years but Rossiter reports the St Martin’s ace to be back in “full flow” along with captain Lee Chin, although there is not a full deck to pick from.

Former All-Star (2019) midfielder Diarmuid O’Keeffe misses out along with full-back Liam Ryan as that pair continue to rehabilitate from injury but Rossiter is delighted to have O’Connor and Chin back along with some other key players.

“They’re exceptional talents, that’s what they are and we’re delighted to have them back in full flow,” Rossiter told Liam Spratt on South East Radio.

“You’re trying to get your best players in on the field and get the balance around them and it’s great to have them back and to have Conor Mc(Donald) back in training. It’s great to have Liam Óg (McGovern) back as well.

“You’ve a couple of lads coming back from injury and you’ve a couple of lads getting injured, it’s just the way it goes. From the injury list at the start of the year, you’re probably just looking at Dee O’Keeffe and Liam Ryan being on it at the minute.”

Wexford secured their place in Division 1A of the league for 2025 with the spring campaign “serving a great purpose” as Rossiter blooded several new faces with a hectic championship campaign now on their horizon.

They start at home to Dublin before heading to Antrim on Saturday week while Galway come to the south east a week later and Rossiter reckons the helter-skelter schedule is “a bit crazy”.

“Three games in 13 days, the highest level that you’re going to get and you’re playing three games in 13 days,” the former Wexford defender said. “It’s a bit crazy for me to be honest but it is what it is. We’re getting prepared for it, the lads are in good spirits and looking forward to it, we’ll give it one hell of a rattle.”

Dublin is the only game on their minds at present and Rossiter insists that “it’s all about winning”, although he feels recent results against Micheál Donoghue’s men make them “underdogs”.

“They beat us last year and they beat us the year before as well, we drew with them in 2019 so the odds are probably stacked against us a little bit in the last few years against Dublin,” he said.

“I wouldn’t read too much into their league, they had a couple of lads injured that came back towards the latter stages, who are experienced and will add great value to their team so it’s going to be a tough battle.

“If you’re looking at it, we’re probably slightly underdogs compared to the last couple of years but once you hit the field, all those labels go out the window and it’s just a matter of who’s going to work hard and go at it on the day.”