Offaly captain Lee Pearson is hoping his side can open their Leinster SFC campaign with a win over Laois on Saturday evening.

An All-Ireland U20FC winner in 2021, the third year Economics & French student at Trinity College Dublin skippered the U20s in 2022 before being handed the senior captaincy this year by manager Declan Kelly.

"We had a rough enough start in the League, losing a few games on the bounce and starting slow is something we need to work on," Pearson told RTÉ.

"Championship games don’t usually allow you a slow start and you have to earn the chance to win right from the start.

"We want to be winning these games in Leinster. Each game is like a final for us and the more we get the better. Last year we took great pride in getting to a semi-final and we would like to have got past Louth, but all our eyes are on Laois now this Saturday in what will be a massive game before a big crowd in Portlaoise."

The Edenderry clubman added: “It’s time for this team to kick on now and this is a massive test."

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