Nothing less than the best will suffice for O'Brien

Who would be an inter-county manager? No sooner had Meath taken their first small step towards reaching a Leinster SFC final for the first time since 2001 than manager Eamonn O'Brien had to put a hold on his preparations to allow the players return to their clubs. It is an accepted realism of the GAA that the clubs must be the focus of the association, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Meath's preparations for next Sunday's Leinster SFC quarter-final against Laois have been hindered. Meath manager Eamonn O'Brien accepts that the players had to return to club training for the week prior to the Meath championships resumption and while it wasn't an ideal situation for him he hopes that his side can pick up where they left off. "Some of the players did pick up knocks in the championship games, but we will hope to have every one back with a spring in their step when everyone is back and able to train," said O'Brien. "Ideally I'd prefered the players to have stayed with the county and not go back to their clubs, but that is the way it is and the way it has to be, the clubs are very important. "The hardest thing for us is that lads have come back in with knocks. Seamus Kenny, Bryan Menton, Peadar Byrne and Brian Meade all picked up knocks and none of them could train on our first night back last Tuesday evening. "Those type of things upset our plans because we can't get back into the full swing of things until we have everyone training again. However, hopefully we can have a few full sessions this week and we will be ready and eager for the game against Laois." The fear is that the momentum and confidence gained with the impressive victory over Offaly in the opening round at Portlaoise almost three weeks ago will have diminished, but O'Brien is confident that his charges can return on cloud nine. There were times before the Offaly game when the manager was fearful. He pointed to the displays in the league against Tipperary and Westmeath as reasons to worry ahead of the trip to Portlaoise, but he was pleased with how things worked out. "I said after the Offaly game that it was a good game to win. Looking back over it for the last few weeks their forwards caused us a lot of concern. We will have to look at that and try to correct it for the next day against Laois," he said. "Our forwards played reasonably well on the day, but when Offaly had a man sent off it did influence the game and it made it easier for us to run out fairly comfortable winners. It will be tougher against Laois. "I was worried about the threat of Offaly before that game because I knew they had three or four very good forwards in the calibre of Niall McNamee, Casey and Reynolds. So I was worried before that game that they would do damage on the day." With that first win in the Leinster SFC under his belt, O'Brien will be hoping to keep his players feet on the ground. He knows they have no reason to get carried away, but he is also aware that another win in Leinster will represent Meath's best provincial campaign in nine years. "Hopefully no one will get carried away with the win over Offaly. We leave the punditry to the pundits and we focus on our own game. The pundits can change their minds and change who they think will win from week to week, but we just concentrate on ourselves," said the former Walterstown star. "We have to be consistent in our performances and we want to play to a high level, that is the challenge for this team. The win over Offaly has put a spring in the step, but it is hard to get going again after the players have spent a week back with their clubs. "It was great to get a first win in Leinster and more importantly it was great to get off to a winning start. However, once you win that opening game, you forget about it quickly and start turning your attention to the next day. "The win was a great boost, but we want to build on that. We haven't put back to back victories in Leinster since 2001 and that is another huge monkey on our backs that we will eager to shake off when we face Laois. "Laois have improved hugely from last year and even from when we played them in the league. Their movement appears to be a lot better and we were fortunate enough to squeeze by them in the league and they were short a few players that night." That narrow NFL Div 2 victory over the O'Moore county should be enough to focus the Meath player's minds and make them realise that they have no divine right to turn up in Croke Park and expect a victory. Nothing less than another top class Meath display will suffice and O'Brien is well aware that his troops cannot afford to play below par if they hope to advance to a Leinster SFC semi-final against Dublin. "We have to play well to have a chance against Laois. We are not a good enough side just yet that can afford to play badly and win games. We hope to get to a stage where when we play a little below par we are still able to grind out a result," said O'Brien. "We need to train hard and be able to play well every day we go out to leave ourselves with a chance of victory. "The players know more about Laois and the threat they offer than I do. They have beaten Meath twice in the last few years. "The qualifiers in 2006 and the heavy defeat in Croke Park in 2003 or 2004 were bitter pills for the players to swallow. "The players know a lot of the Laois lads and they know what they are capable of. We will have nothing only the height of respect for those Laois players, we know they will be tough and that they are very strong footballers, so we will have to be at our best," concluded O'Brien.