Eamonn Fitzmaurice wouldn’t be surprised if Westmeath put Derry out of their misery.

The Oak Leafers have suffered an alarming dip in form since winning the Allianz League in early April, and now face Dessie Dolan’s charges – who pushed Galway to the wire on Sunday and were a whisker away from knocking out Tyrone last year – in a straight shootout for a preliminary All-Ireland SFC quarter-final place.

"Westmeath played quite well again yesterday. Obviously, the pass for the Shane Walsh goal was probably the difference in the game,” the former Kerry All-Ireland SFC winning manager told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.

"Westmeath are going to fancy that game. And even if Derry manage to get through it, you'd wonder do they really want to? After losing three games and being in the position they're in?

"It'll take some resurrection now if they manage to do anything for the rest of the championship because they're in a bad place."

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