Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan is remaining positive, despite the county's winless start to the year.

The Midlanders two competitive fixtures to date have ended in defeat and the alarm bells are already ringing amongst some of their supporters.

However, the Clara native believes that the basis of a good team is there, once he has all his players full fit and back in action.

Flanagan has had to do without the dual players as well as the Garrycastle contingent, while Conor Lynam has now stated that he won't be back playing this year, leaving the squad depleted, but the Westmeath manager feels there is a good group of youngsters coming through.

"We are working on fitness levels and we have a lot of new players. We are trying to combine them together and getting them to play as a team. That is more important than the actual result," Flanagan pointed out to the Westmeath Examiner.

"And while there are a lot of players out there who have decided not to play, with some having decided to play a different code, at the end of the day, Westmeath have plenty of footballers who want to play for their county, and it's time to start looking after those lads and stop talking about boys who're not coming in." Tweet

Most Read Stories