Can Meath become only the second county in the 11-year history of the All-Ireland qualifiers to win a Round 4 tie a week after losing a provincial final?

That's the big question facing Seamus McEnaney's men as they prepare to make their third trip of the summer to Tullamore for a tricky last-12 clash with Laois, who have caused the Royals lots of problems over the years.

Since Dublin defeated Sligo in 2001 seven days after losing the Leinster final to Meath, 12 teams have tried and failed to overcome the dreaded six-day turnaround. Seamus McEnaney experienced it himself as Monaghan boss two years ago when they lost to Kildare, so he is fully aware of the task facing his team as they try to put behind them the disappointment of losing last Sunday Leinster final to Dublin as quickly as possible.

'Banty' was certainly in bullish mood after his team almost produced an unlikely comeback against a complacent Dublin side, and has promised more of the same battling qualities from the Royals this weekend. After the start to the season they had, reaching a provincial final was an unexpected bonus for the Royals, but they never like losing to their great rivals from the capital and it remains to be seen what impact -if any - that defeat will have had on them.

Laois have reached this juncture without playing particularly well. Following their relegation from Division 1 of the Allianz League, they were dumped out of the Leinster SFC by Longford, but have built up momentum since then with wins over Carlow, Monaghan and Leitrim. They almost came a cropper in Carrick-on-Shannon last weekend, and will need to show a massive improvement, especially their forwards who were guilty of kicking 17 wides against the Connacht minnows.

One thing Laois have, however, is lots of experience and a stronger midfield than Meath's where Brendan Quigley is playing out of his skin. They beat Meath in the All-Ireland qualifiers in Navan in 2006 and will be eager to make amends for their Leinster SFC quarter-final defeat to the Royals after a replay (which also took place in O'Connor Park) two years ago.

This is an extremely difficult game to call, but if Meath can get a share of possession at midfield, they have the forwards to run up a match-winning score.

Verdict: Meath

Laois - Eoin Culliton, Cahir Healy, Kevin Meaney, Jamie Kavanagh, Darren Strong, John O'Loughlin, Conor Boyle, Brendan Quigley, Colm Begley, Ross Munnelly, Billy Sheehan, Gary Walsh, Damien O'Connor, Padraig Clancy, Colm Kelly.

Meath - D Gallagher; D Keogan, K Reilly, M Burke; D Tobin, S McAnarney, B Menton; C Gillespie, B Meade; A Forde, D Carroll, G Reilly; B Farrell, J Sheridan, C Ward.

Odds: Laois 11/5, Draw 15/2, Meath 1/2

Match Details: O'Connor Park, Saturday 28 July, 3.30pm Tweet

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