McEntee focused solely on tackling Louth

Meath have some way to go to catch up with the top teams in the country in terms of fitness and physical strength according to manager Andy McEntee. He was speaking at Monday's media day ahead of the eagerly-awaited Leinster SFC quarter-final against Louth at Dublin's Parnell Park on Sunday 4th June.

McEntee also said that he and his players wished to 'disassociate' themselves from recent comments made by former Meath player Bernard Flynn who criticised Mayo’s Aidan O'Shea for 'taking photographs and selfies with kids' instead of warming down with the rest of the players after a recent challenge game.
The Meath manager was speaking in the context of the kind of spotlight there is now focused on the top inter-county players.
'We want to absolutely disassociate ourselves from anything that was said about Aidan O'Shea, the management team and the Meath players,' he added before saying he didn't want to say anything more on the issue.
Instead, he added, all his attention will be on getting the better of Louth on Sunday week. He also said he had 'a clean bill of heath' in terms of all the players who were in his squad and that they were fit and ready for action.
McEntee was speaking at Dowth Hall, the stately house owned by Devenish Nutrition chairman Owen Brennan, on Monday morning. McEntee spoke about how any long-term objectives must be put aside and the focus firmly placed on the challenge that will be presented by the Wee County.
Meath will travel to Dublin on Sunday 4th June to tackle Louth in the Leinster SFC quarter-final, 3pm, after the Wee County negotiated Wicklow by 1-19 to 1-14 in the opening round of the provincial series last Sunday at the Dublin venue.
'We have been at this for six months and, realistically, it's a longer-term project when you're trying to catch up with the likes of Dublin, Kerry and Mayo,' he said.
'We found that in some of the challenges matches we've played recently, physically, teams in Div 1 are a little bit ahead of us, but our lads have made progress, they've put in a huge effort and I'm quite happy with where we are right now,' he added.
The Meath manager also stated that it was 'hard to know' just how far they have yet to go to get to the point where they can match top teams, but he added that he and his players 'could find that out' when they take on the Wee County, a side that defeated the Royal County (1-14 to 0-10) in the O'Bryne Cup semi-final last January.  
'All our focus is absolutely on the Louth game, there is a level of intensity for the O'Byrne Cup and there is a level of intensity for the championship and a different level again for the National League, I guess until you are in the middle of it all you're never sure exactly where you are,' he concluded.
Dowth Hall was purchased in 2013 by the Devenish Nutrition chairman and his wife Alice Stanton, and they have committed themselves to restoring the 18th century mansion to its former glory. 
This is Devenish Nutrition's first year sponsoring Meath GAA for what is understood to be a €250,000 deal.