Wayne Kierans would hate to see the championship minnows taken out of the firing line of the big guns.
It may seem like something of a poisoned chalice that the reward for the winner of Louth's clash with Wexford on Sunday is a Leinster quarter-final meeting with Dublin, who will be beginning their drive for five..
Louth have just come off the disappointment of losing out on promotion to Division 2 in the exciting climax to the league.
In his first year as manager, Kierans revelled in the tight encounters from week to week between counties at a similar level.
But that doesn't mean he wants a shot at the country's top sides ruled out for the likes of the Wee County.
"Once the draw was made, there was a fantastic buzz in our camp with the possibility of meeting Dublin," revealed Kierans.
“Like, I don’t think we should be shying away from wanting to play them though I know it’s very, very difficult to beat them.
"There's a wider debate on how the championship is going to be structured and it will probably come to the fore over the next 12 months, in terms of do they need to change the championship and they possibly do.
"But don't’ take away the opportunity for smaller counties like Louth to play your Dublins, your Tyrones, your Kerrys, because that’s the only way you will learn and create that buzz.
"There's a fantastic prize on offer and I think that it would be a massive fillip for us to go and play Dublin in the Leinster Championship in terms of management, in terms of the players - young and experienced.
"We would learn a lot and it's up to us to be competitive against the big boys, of course."
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Kierans was part of Pete McGrath's management team last year as Louth crashed out of Division 2 after one league campaign and fell to impressive Carlow in Leinster and Leitrim in the second round of the qualifiers.
He believes his team were ready for Division 2 football next year but acknowledges that they ran out of steam at the tail end of the league.
It's also a blow to Louth to lose former AFL recruit Ciaran Byrne after his return from Australia.
Byrne, 24, who had ankle surgery late last year, had to undergo another procedure two weeks ago.
"Unfortunately we won’t have him," Kierans confirmed. "He’s looking to get club games in before the end of the season. That’s his target.
"He’ll be a massive player for Louth in the future."
For Kierans, the main priority has been implemented the structures and creating the environment that will sustain a conveyor belt of talent coming through in a county with limited resources.
"You have to create an environment around what are these guys going to get out of this," he said.
"And if we can keep progressing and build that idea, that we're going to keeping progressing and we're going to be competitive against any team we play over the next 18 months, two years, if they buy into that, then great.
"But it is difficult to keep guys coming back, year after year after year. There's some guys who have done that, which is a great testament to them".
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