Westmeath look set to go into Saturday's Leinster SFC quarterfinal against Laois without marquee forward John Heslin.

Speculation is increasing that captain Heslin will not be fully recovered from a troublesome hip flexor injury that has kept him sidelined in recent weeks.

The loss of Heslin would be a massive blow to the Lake County who are missing a number of players either through injury or opted off the panel.

Definitely out of the O'Connor Park fixture are vice-captain James Dolan who just last week announced that he was opting off the squad to spend the summer in the U.S where he will link up with fellow defender Kevin Maguire who left the panel at the start of the year to go travelling.

The defensive issues are compounded by the fact that the experienced Frank Boyle is out for the year with a neck injury and Mark McCallon is extremely doubtful with a shoulder injury.

It doesn't stop there as corner back Killian Daly has also left the squad due to work commitments, while Paul Sharry has not made himself available this year.

Westmeath manager Colin Kelly will also be without talented forward Tommy McDaniel who suffered a serious facial injury while playing for his new club, Dublin side Castleknock.

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