Former Westmeath manager Luke Dempsey isn't alone in his belief that the Lake County have a great chance of registering a first ever championship victory over Meath this weekend.

Dempsey, who finished up on the wrong end of the championship scoreline twice against the Royals, said in the build-up: "This is the best chance ever to get to a Leinster final because it is a Meath team with very few household names unlike that period in 2001 to 2004.

"They also have a lot of injuries, they are struggling to find a strong midfield pairing, and this is a Meath team that has struggled through several matches in the league, and against Wicklow in the last round."

Following their less than convincing performance in their 2-19 to 3-12 quarter-final victory over the Garden County, Royal boss Mick O'Dowd has carried out major surgery to his starting 15.

The experienced quartet of Mickey Burke, Bryan Menton, Kevin Reilly and Michael Newman return while Conor McGill will make his championship debut in the number three jersey.

Conor Gillespie and Shane O'Rourke remained sidelined with knee and hand injuries respectively.

O'Dowd's Westmeath counterpart Tom Cribbin has made just one change to his line-up with Lorcan Smyth getting the nod ahead of Ronan Foley in attack while Callum McCormack has, once again, been ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Better news for the county's supporters is the return of defender Kieran Gavin to the bench following a lengthy injury lay-off.

Momentum is very much on the Ger Egan captained outfit's side as they go in search of a first championship victory over their next door neighbours in twenty-three meetings.

Following the disappointment of their second successive relegation in the league, the maroon and whites bounced back with championship victories over Louth (3-14 to 1-16) and Wexford (1-21 to 0-15).

At odds of 10/1, a draw could be a good bet.

Verdict - Draw.

Meath team: Patrick O'Rourke; James McEntee, Conor McGill, Donncha Tobin; Mickey Burke, Donal Keogan, Bryan Menton; Harry Rooney, Kevin Reilly; Graham Reilly, Padraic Harnan, Andrew Tormey; Michael Newman, Stephen Bray, Brian McMahon.

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

Match details: Sunday; Croke Park; 2pm.

Referee: Conor Lane.

Odds: Meath 2/5, Draw 10/1, Westmeath 5/2.

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