Wicklow manager Mick O'Dwyer has insisted that Thomas Walsh is staying with the Garden County, despite speculation that he is about to return to Carlow. Walsh left his native county in controversial circumstances last year and new Carlow manager Paul Bealin has gone on record as saying he wants the big midfielder to rejoin the Barrowsiders. But following Saturday evening's O'Byrne Cup defeat to Dublin in Parnell Park, O'Dwyer insisted that Walsh was going nowhere. "He's staying, but he'll have to get fit - like the rest of them," he said. The Kerryman admitted that Wicklow have a lot of improving to do if they are to achieve their goals this season. He said: "Trying to get out of the fourth division is our number one priority. Then we'd hope to be able to compete against Kildare and put up a good performance - that would be what we're hoping to do. "We were a long way off against Dublin - you could even see that with a lot of our big players." Tweet

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