Injury concerns for Tipperary manager Liam Kearns ahead of football league clash against Meath

Tipperary senior football manager Liam Kearns hopes to see his team consolidate their position in Division 2 of the league rather than thinking of promotion before a ball is kicked.

But he points out that missing key players puts him in a more difficult position than 12 months ago.

“In the short term we will   definitely be under pressure” says Kearns, who sees his side start a difficult campaign away in Meath on this Sunday, in a division that also includes Donegal, Armagh, Kildare and Cork.

“We will be without Robbie Kiely, who is travelling, and Bill Maher with an achilles tendon while Michael Quinlivan had a damaged knee and then picked up a calf injury.

“In addition Paidi Feehan fractured a bone in his femur, Shane O’Connell damaged his hamstring and then his quad, while we will also be using Philip Austin sparingly”, he says.

But it's not all doom and gloom and the Kerryman is excited that young players such as Paul Maher, Daire Brennan, Conal Kennedy, Ben Hyland, Gavin Whelan and Dan O’Meara will have the opportunity to put pressure on the established players.

Kearns points  out that Tipp have never been able to consolidate their place in Division 2 and that's his target this campaign. “We should have won promotion last year,  we were the strongest team in the division, but I think Division 2 this year is the strongest ever”, he says.

Meath will be gunning for revenge after losing in Thurles last year and have targeted promotion; Kearns says Donegal are in the top six teams in the country while he puts Kildare in the top eight.

Kearns hopes to get something out of Navan on Sunday but knows that home results are vital, and includes crucial ties against Ulster sides Fermanagh and Donegal over the following two weekends.

“Donegal are favourites for promotion and I agree with that”, says Kearns, although they will be without talisman Michael Murphy, plus the Gweedore players for the early rounds.

 But for now his total focus is on Meath on Sunday.