Longford have rubbished reports that they won't be able to field a team in tomorrow's O'Byrne Cup Shield match against Wexford. Rumours have been circulating in recent days that the midlanders wouldn't be travelling to Enniscorthy because of a shortage of available players. Manager Glenn Ryan had only 18 players for last Sunday's O'Byrne Cup clash with Meath in Ballymahon, and the panel was padded out by under 21 players who had featured in a Hastings Cup match the previous day against Roscommon. But while admitting that they are struggling for numbers, Longford chairman Peter O'Reilly dispelled the notion that they would be giving Wexford a walkover. "The problem we had last weekend was that we had only 18 in the panel," he explained to the Irish Independent. "We had four or five players injured, and another nine or 10 involved in the Sigerson Cup. One player - Shane Cox - got injured in the warm-up and a couple of fellas had niggly injuries. Another lad - Arthur O'Connor - got married and had been on his honeymoon. "This Sigerson Cup is having an effect on us. We had a couple of subs who played in the Hastings Cup against Roscommon on Sunday. But we will have a team for Sunday. We're fairly confident that Shane Cox and Arthur O'Connor will be available, but we will again be depending on a number of the under 21s." Manager Ryan remarked: "I would prefer not to be saying anything at the moment, because I'd only be whinging. "I have a lot of lads playing with colleges at the moment, and I don't want to be crying about it." Tweet

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