Speaking ahead of Sunday's Leinster SHC opener against Westmeath, Antrim manager Kevin Ryan admits he is worried about how his team will cope with the tag of favourites.

"It definitely brings its own challenges," he said to the Irish News.

"I've noticed that myself, when there's expectation they don't tend to deal with it very well.

"We have spoken about this a lot, even from the lessons we got last year, but I think they're maturing enough.

"When the expectations are there we don't tend to deliver - long-term, that's one thing we need to change to become a good team."

The Saffrons boss expects Westmeath to put up a stern challenge especially now that they have added former Kilkenny selector Martin Fogarty to their management set-up.

"Going back eight to 10 weeks ago things looked very bad for them. You'd have been thinking, 'OK, they're a division below, it should be handy' - but I know from playing Westmeath in recent years how hard it is going to be physically.

"I very much noticed Martin Fogarty going in there, he's a very good hurling man. Even though it's only been three weeks the he's been with them, I'd say you'll see a slight difference in their style and an improvement in their hurling.

"They have nothing to lose. People expect us to beat them up there." Tweet

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