Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan admits he was not prepared to lose so many players this year.

The Clara native knew that he would have some rebuilding of last year's squad to do, but never envisaged there would be so much to do as a waft of players are unavailable to him.

Firstly, Flanagan was dealt a blow with the news that dual stars Paul Greville, Frank Boyle, Brendan Murtagh, Conor Jordan and Philip Gilsenan would all concentrate on hurling in 2012.

From last year's squad, Conor Lynam, Denis Corroon, John Heslin and Tomas McDaniel are abroad or heading abroad shortly. Darragh Daly and Ger Egan are on the treatment table at the moment, while the Garrycastle contingent of Dessie Dolan, John Gaffey, James Dolan and Doran Harte are preparing for the All-Ireland club SFC semi final.

All of these will be unavailable for Sunday's league opener against Louth in what is a game that the Midlanders need to win to have any chance of avoiding relegation.

"When I was given the job, I realised there was a certain amount of rebuilding required, but what I didn't realise was that I'd be starting pretty much from scratch, which is what happened with players retiring, injuries and players moving abroad," Flanagan revealed to the Westmeath Independent.

"All those things 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." Tweet

Most Read Stories