Flanagan hopes for positive start to 'very tough' campaign

A somewhat patched-up Westmeath team begin their Allianz Football League Division 2 campaign against Louth on Sunday (Haggardstown, 2.30pm), with Lake County manager Pat Flanagan preparing to use the league series to build for the future. With the Garrycastle quartet of Dessie Dolan, James Dolan, John Gaffey and Doran Harte unavailable to join the Westmeath set-up at present - due to their club's continued involvement in the All-Ireland Club SFC - and with Francis Boyle, Paul Greville and Brendan Murtagh committed to the county hurling team, Flanagan is light on competitive experience ahead of the league opener. To add to Flanagan's problems, midfielder Darragh Daly (Mullingar Shamrocks) is struggling with a back injury and might not be fit to face Louth. In addition, 21-year-old forward Conor Lynam (St Loman's) is due to travel to America shortly and is also unavailable. In any case, Lynam is also currently recovering from a broken leg while, in a further blow to the Lake County, Ger Egan is set to miss the first two rounds after damaging the medial ligament in his knee while playing for Athlone IT against Longford in the O'Byrne Cup. It was initially feared the Tyrrellspass clubman had ruptured his cruciate ligament, but those fears were allayed when he got the results of a scan. Also unavailable to Westmeath from last year's panel are Denis Corroon (America), and John Heslin, who moved to Australia to take-up a contract with Australian Rules side Richmond Tigers. Ballinagore's Thomas McDaniel had a successful year with the county U21s in 2011, and could have been a strong contender to feature in Flanagan's team, but he's also currently in Australia. Such dilemmas make Clara native Flanagan's job even harder than usual, ahead of Sunday's league opener, but he's hoping Westmeath's new-look side can hold their own in a very competitive Division 2. "When I was given the Westmeath job, I realised there was a certain amount of rebuilding required, but what I didn't realise was that I'd pretty much be starting from scratch, which is what's happened with players retiring, injuries, and players moving abroad. Obviously, Garrycastle's run in the Leinster Club championship is fantastic for the county, and hopefully they go all the way and win the championship, but the unavailability of some experienced players from their club is going to be a loss for Westmeath, until they're available to us again. "All those factors have certainly made things that bit harder, and we're going to feel the pinch on Sunday, but I think it's only fair to concentrate on the lads we have available. "They're a fantastic group of dedicated and very committed players, and have worked really hard over the past five or six weeks. They're the future of the Westmeath senior team, and have enormous pride in playing for the county. At present, it's all about building for the future, and with a few of last year's U21s coming into the set-up, we're hopeful of holding our own in Division 2," said Flanagan. Competitive division Such is the level of players currently unavailable to Flanagan, the Westmeath supremo will be holding his breath when several of his players represent their college teams on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. "Realistically, we're competing in a very tough division this year, but we deserved to win promotion last year, and you want to be playing against the highest calibre of opposition available to you. Every game will be a bit tougher than last year's league fixtures, but it's where we want to be, and I firmly believe the players will benefit from playing in such tough matches. The likes of Galway, Meath and Kildare, they're all very interesting games for Westmeath. If we can get off to a decent start on Sunday, I think our self-belief will improve, and put us in good stead to be competitive in Division 2," said Flanagan. In reality, though, Westmeath will be many people's favourites for relegation in a division that includes Derry, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath, Monaghan and Tyrone. Flanagan said the main aim of the league campaign is to provide some of the more inexperienced players with an opportunity to pit their wits against strong opposition, but also to maintain Division 2 status for next year. Westmeath have struggled against Sunday's opposition, Louth, in recent years. They lost twice to the Wee County in last year's Division 3 campaign, including in the league decider (played between the top two teams in the division) at Croke Park last April. Louth also got the better of Westmeath in the 2010 Leinster SFC semi-final, and Flanagan knows Peter Fitzpatrick's side will present a very tough obstacle this weekend. "Westmeath haven't had the best of records against Louth in recent years. I was actually talking to Gary Connaughton (Westmeath goalkeeper) about it the other day, and he reminded me that a few years ago Westmeath got off to a cracking start in the league, but then travelled up to Louth and were beaten. Of course, Louth got the better of us in the league last year, on two occasions, and also in the Leinster semi-final in 2010, so we know they're dangerous opposition," said Flanagan. Louth warmed-up for this weekend's league opener with a challenge match victory over Roscommon last weekend, while Westmeath's scheduled challenge game against Clare was postponed due to inclement weather conditions. Instead, the Westmeath panel utilised the 3G pitch at St Loman's GAA for a training session. Allianz FL Division 2 Fixtures Saturday: Kildare v Tyrone, Croke Park, 5pm; Meath v Monaghan, Páirc Tailteann, 7pm. Sunday: Derry v Galway, Celtic Park, 2.30pm; Louth v Westmeath, Haggardstown, 2.30pm.