Seven-time All-Ireland winner Brian Fenton sees Sunday’s Leinster senior football championship final against Dublin as “a big challenge” for Westmeath.

Mark McHugh’s side are 11/2 outsiders against the capital men at Croke Park where Fenton feels the atmosphere will be much different from the Lake County’s last two outings in Tullamore.

Speaking on the RTE GAA podcast this week, the former Dublin midfielder believes that Westmeath are up against it this weekend but, at the same time, have nothing to lose going into the provincial decider.

"I think coming to Croke Park is a big, big challenge for them. Both their games have been in Tullamore. The crowd is very close and as Dessie Dolan said here on the podcast, it's a great atmosphere,” the Raheny clubman stated.

"You can see the clips where the Westmeath players are turning to the crowd and getting them going and the crowd are reacting. You won't get that in Croke Park this weekend.

"The crowd will be much more spread out. They won't be down on top of you. So you lose that atmosphere and that edge a little bit.

"If they bring a bit of chaos and bring a bit of magic and get maybe key scores at key times, I can see them putting a game to Dublin, but based on looking at two teams on paper objectively, Dublin should win comfortably.

"The parade, the hype, getting tickets sorted, everything around it, the functions on a Sunday night, new clothes, that'll all be very, very new for the Westmeath players and something Mark McHugh will embrace, but also play down because they'll be going there to win, no doubt.

"For Westmeath, you could look at it from their point of view. Yes, they have all the new stuff to deal with being in a provincial final. But also, you could say that their main job this year is done in terms of securing Sam Maguire football and they're in the All-Ireland series and they have nothing to lose here. Could that work in their favour? Absolutely."

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