Louth came away from Mullingar with a five-point championship victory 12 months ago but the landscape has changed dramatically since then.

1-14 to 1-9 was the scoreline in Cusack Park but both teams are under new managers this term while, most significantly of all, the Wee County are minus the services of their talismanic midfielder Paddy Keenan.

Former star forward Colin Kelly has taken over the reins from Martin O'Rourke and he pointed out: "We've lost seven starters in fellas like Paddy Keenan, Shane Lennon, Andy McDonnell, Brian White, John O'Brien, Mick Fanning . . . fellas of that calibre.

"You're talking about midfielders, centre-back, full-forward - the whole spine of your team. You can dwell on it and be negative or you can get on with the job, and that's what we've done."

Kerry legend Mick O'Dwyer accepted an invitation from Kelly to join his backroom team in an advisory capacity but the Waterville maestro has a difficult job on his hands trying to lift morale following their relegation to Division 4.

The Lake County also endured a league to forget when suffering a second successive relegation and manager Tom Cribbin, who has replaced Paul Bealin, didn't speak too favourably about some of the more experienced members of his dressingroom after their round 7 loss to Roscommon.

That is, however, water under the bridge as they prepare for tomorrow's must-win encounter and their team includes four championship newcomers in Killian Daly, Paddy Holloway, John Stapleton and Shane Dempsey.

Experienced forward Denis Glennon is unavailable due to a fractured hand.

Verdict - Westmeath.

Louth team: Neil Gallagher; Anthony Williams, Patrick Reilly, Padraig Rath; Declan Byrne, Darren O'Hanlon, Adrian Reid; Bevan Duffy, Tommy Durnin; Derek Maguire, Colm Judge, James Stewart; Ryan Burns, Conor Grimes, Paraic Smith.

Westmeath team: Darren Quinn; John Gilligan, Kevin Maguire, Killian Daly; Paddy Holloway, Kieran Martin, James Dolan; Darragh Daly, Ger Egan; Paul Sharry, Ray Connellan, John Stapleton; Ciaran McCormack, John Heslin, Shane Dempsey.

Match details: Sunday, Gaelic Grounds, Drogheda, 3.30pm.

Referee: Barry Cassidy.

Odds: Louth 13/10, Draw 15/2, Westmeath 5/6.

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