Andy McEntee admits he can understand why people think Meath’s stay in Division 1 will be brief but is determined to prove them wrong.
Three of the four counties that were promoted from Division 2 across 2017 and 2018 – Kildare, Cavan and Roscommon – suffered an immediate relegation the following year.
And with Meath now back in the top flight for the first time since 2006, they’re the favourites to suffer the drop this spring.
It doesn’t help that key players Mickey Newman (hip) and Seamus Lavin (knee) could miss the entire campaign or that Meath have just three home games out of seven.
McEntee acknowledged that most will write them off but he has full confidence in his players to deliver – starting with Sunday’s opener in Tyrone.
McEntee said: “We’ve spoken about this, some guys are just going to be thrown in at the deep end.
"But once you survive that initial baptism of fire, we’ll be stronger for it.
"When everybody is back up and running, we’ll be stronger for it.
"Guys will have experience that they mightn’t have got otherwise.
"That’s the way I’m looking at it. I’m also quite confident that the fellas we’re going to put in there are quite capable of doing a job.”
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