Wicklow U21 football manager Jonathan Daniels says there are "major structural problems" in the Garden County.
Having seen his team thumped by Longford in the first round of the Leinster U21 FC last week, the Blessington man told The Wicklow People:
"Longford were a better team, that's it. They were bigger, faster, stronger. I'd say they are three years down the line in terms of conditioning and development compared to us.
"Our players are not being exposed to this kind of football enough. They're not getting enough tough games at juvenile level. You might get two games a year.
"We have major structural problems in Wicklow. You have to remember that 15 and 20 years ago we were reaching Leinster U21 and minor finals and we had schools in Leinster finals.
"I remember a Dunlavin VEC team in the Leinster Schools 'A' final. We have dropped so far away and at this moment it's not the Dublins or the Meaths that are too far ahead of us; it's the Division Four teams who are getting away from us."
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