Former Antrim star Neil McManus believes Wexford will need to be patient after a couple of early scares in their Allianz Hurling League Division 1B campaign.

Having defeated Antrim late on in their opener, this past Sunday saw the Slaneysiders requiring late points from Conor Hearne and Simon Roche (free) to see off Down by 0-27 to 0-25 in Ballycran.

Speaking on the RTE GAA Podcast, McManus said that the Model men can’t be judged until they get their key players back, particularly ace attacker Lee Chin.

"The vast majority of the Leinster winning team [2019] under Davy (Fitzgerald) are gone and the others, they’re waiting for them to come back nearly.

"It cannot be over-emphasised the importance of Lee Chin to this group. I know he’s back in training but he transforms this team single-handedly.

"Rory O’Connor is now in Australia for what looks like a six-month period, so he won’t play for Wexford this year.

"Some of the other (St) Martin’s lads like Jack (O’Connor) will hopefully be back sooner rather than later, but Antrim felt aggrieved the first day out that they didn’t get the result.

"Ballycran can be a tough place to go in County Down. I’ve been there plenty of times and haven’t managed to get much change. The Ards Peninsula is a great hurling part of the country. I knew that was a tricky assignment for the Wexford lads."

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