Kevin Reilly ruled out for Meath’s opener

Mick O’Dowd has ruled former skipper Kevin Reilly out of Meath’s Leinster championship opener with Wicklow and admitted it’ll be a ‘bonus’ if the stricken defender does return at some point in the campaign.

Reilly is rated as one of the game’s top full-backs but has been plagued by injuries, the latest a hip issue that limited him to just two outings in the Allianz league.

Manager O’Dowd said the frustrating thing for the four-time Leinster finalist is that he’s in ‘great shape’ but aggravates the hip problem each time he plays and then spends ‘a week to 10 days not being able to do anything.’ Asked if he realistically has to plan without last year’s captain indefinitely at this stage, O’Dowd nodded.