Westmeath have named four debutants for Sunday's Leinster Championship preliminary-round meeting with Carlow. A vacancy has been left on the half forward line and substitutes will be announced tomorrow.
David Murphy, at full back, Damien Healy, right wing back, Aidan Canning, left wing back and left corner forward Cathal Keane are the newcomers who will line out in Mullingar.
The left wing forward position has been left vacant so that Shane Colleary who has cracked ribs will have as much time as possible to recover. Two of the All-Ireland winning minors of 1995, Canning and Damien Gavin, will start the match.
For their part, Carlow have made eight changes to the side that lost to Louth in last season's championship as new manager Paddy Morrissey recasts the team. The survivors are Brendan Hayden, Andrew Corden, Breffni Hannon, Hughie Brennan, Sean Kavanagh, Willie Quinlan and Johnny Nevin.
Meanwhile, there are few injury concerns to report ahead of Sunday's National Hurling League semifinals in Thurles. All four teams, Limerick, Waterford, Clare and Cork, are expected to name their line-ups tonight.
Limerick manager Eamonn Cregan will be looking carefully at Declan Nash who has a back strain, Mark Foley, whose broken nose isn't fully healed, and Damien Quigley who returned to action as a substitute in Sunday's challenge match against Clare. But he expects to deal off a full deck for the semi-final against Waterford.
Cork's Mick Daly, like victorious Offaly Football League captain Finbar Cullen, is returning from honeymoon just ahead of the match with Clare. His holiday was in Mexico and he doesn't return until Saturday so jet-lag will be a consideration. But the signs are that he will be selected. His centrefield partner Pat Ryan is recovering from a slight knock but isn't causing any alarm.
Clare have a slight doubt over corner back Frank Lohan who is still bothered by a hamstring injury which he carried into the final divisional match against Galway in Ennis nine days ago. He was withdrawn at half-time and his progress will be monitored before the team is named tonight.
Westmeath (SF v Carlow): D Ryan; D Brady, D Murphy, J O'Brien; D Healy, C Ryan, A Canning; J Cooney, D Gavin; M Staunton, P Conway, AN Other; G Heavin, K Lyons, C Keane.
Carlow (SF): J Clarke; B Hayden, A Corden, B Farrell; B Hannon, H Brennan, C Kelly; S Kavanagh, D Treacy; W Quinlan, R Donnelly, P Kingston; N Doyle, J Nevin, M Carpenter. Subs: J Kearns, N Sheehy, D O'Donoghue, B O'Brien, J Hughes, N Mambrick, L Kelly, P Nolan, A Corcoran, D Clarke.
