Westmeath manager Michael Ryan has made three changes to his team for tomorrow's Leinster SHC opener against Carlow.

Alan McGrath and Aaron Craig replace Adam Price and Liam Varley in defence fromthe team that lost the Division 2A final to Kerry while Cormac Boyle is selected at midfield ahead of Joe Clarke.

Brendan Murtagh starts at full forward while Castletown-Geoghegan's Aonghus Clarke captains the Lake County in the championship for the first time.

The Lake County will be looking to repeat their 1-14 to 1-13 league victory over the Barrowsiders.

"We are under no illusions that it will be a tough game - there is very little between the two teams, as we saw in the league match," remarked Ryan.

"We are on our home patch and we need to produce a really good performance. If we perform to our best we will win, but we have got to produce a big performance on the day."

Ryan's Carlow counterpart Pat English said: "It is the first round of the Leinster championship. Ok, there are a couple of other matches coming after it so this is a very important match."

Verdict - Westmeath.

Westmeath team: Peter Collins; Shane Power, Tommy Doyle, Alan McGrath; Aaron Craig, Aonghus Clarke, Gary Greville; Cormac Boyle, Robbie Greville; Niall O'Brien, Derek McNicholas, Eoin Price; Darragh Clinton, Brendan Murtagh, Alan Devine.

Carlow team: tba.

Match details: Sunday, Cusack Park, Mullingar, 3.30pm.

Referee: John Keenan.

Odds: Westmeath 4/7, Draw 9/1, Carlow 13/8.

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