Micko says players’ only focus is Sligo

MICK O’DWYER has dismissed the idea his Wicklow players will be inspired by the possibility Saturday’s All-Ireland first round qualifier against Sligo could be his last in charge of the county.

The legendary manager has already announced his intentions to step down as Garden County boss after beingappointed in October 2006. The Micko factor worked two years ago when Wicklow reached the fourth round of the qualifiers having beaten three Ulster teams.

But he doesn’t believe his charges will be motivated by the possibility of his last game in Aughrim, should they lose.

“I don’t think it will make any difference, to be honest,” said O’Dwyer. “Players will play to the best of their abilities on any given day and that’s about the size of it. It’s a well known fact that I told them this year would be my last one with Wicklow and that’s that.”

O’Dwyer’s optimism about the game is tempered by the amount of players he doesn’t have available to him on Saturday.

“A lot of our players are injured, gone or what have you. I have a whole list of them who won’t be playing on Sunday and injuries can decimate you completely.

“Of course, Tom Walsh went back to Carlow, Paddy Dalton has a bad ankle injury, Austin O’Malley is out through suspension, Patrick McWalter is out with a cruciate ligament, Damien Power has been gone for a long while, Jack Dalton is gone as well as is Michael McLoughlin.

“That’s seven of my top players gone so I’m bringing in a lot of young fellas and we’re hoping that things will go well and we’ll be able to put in aperformance.”

In true O’Dwyer fashion, he is more inclined to concentrate on Sligo’s fine form last year as opposed to their surprising Connacht exit to Leitrim.

“If the players on the pitch give it 100% we won’t be too far off. Sligo, in fairness, are a good side and they beat Galway and Mayo last year.

“This year they got a bit of a shock against Leitrim but that’s part and parcel of the game. It can go against you on different days.

“They looked a really good side last year and probably took Roscommon for granted last year when they were caught in the Connacht final. They’re working hard to get back to where they were last year so it’s going to be interesting.”

Meanwhile, O’Dwyer is adamant there are no outstanding issues between himself and his two dualplayers, Leighton Glynn and Stephen Kelly. After last month’s Leinster preliminary round defeat to Kildare, the 75-year-old suggested he might have had a better chance of persuading them not to play for the hurlers if he was staying on as manager.

“There are plenty of players around the country who play both codes to a high standard. You see it with young [Eoin] Cadogan in Cork.

“You’d have plenty of counties who have football teams caught for players because they play hurling as well. They were two of the best they had so it wasn’t very easy for me to step in and say you can’t play.”