Wicklow under-20 manager Kevin O’Brien was not happy that three of his players were withdrawn from the squad to face Clare at the weekend in order to train with the county’s senior squad.

O’Brien was forced to line out his side without Andy Maher, Zach Cullen and Eoin Darcy for the clash against Clare, in which Wicklow went on to win by a point, despite missing the key players.

The former Wicklow footballer stressed that they had no choice but to release the players as the county board had backed the senior management.

“We were backed into a corner because we were missing our players, who wanted to play. I spoke to them, got their position, but it was taken away from them, so the county board had backed (senior management) and, to be quite honest with you, we left it at that, and we concentrated on trying to be positive with the players that we had,” stated O’Brien.

“It has been a tough few days. It is not acceptable that these lads have to put up with second best. Not at this level. These are the future of Wicklow.”

Tweet

Most Read Stories