Limerick seeking 'Royal' reaction in the national football league

LIMERICK'S senior footballers go into Sunday's Allianz Football League Division 2 game with Meath at the TUS Gaelic Grounds still without a win a big defeat to Cork.

Ray Dempsey's side have lost all four games in the division so far and face an uphill task to stay in Division 2 for another season.

Limerick have games against Meath, Kidare and Clare remaining in the league and will probably need at least two wins from those games to have any hope of staying up.

The Royals come to the TUS Gaelic Grounds on the back of two wins and two defeats from their fixtures thus far. Colm O'Rourke's side saw off Cork and Clare in their opening two games but then suffered losses to Derry and Louth ahead of their trip to the Ennis Road venue.

Looking ahead to the fixture against Meath, Dempsey said that the pace that Cork played at was two steps ahead of anything they have faced in 2023.

"Division 2 is played at a way higher tempo. It's as simple as that. We have to try and replicate that in training. We have to freshen up lads a well.

"When you're dealing with maybe not the strongest panel, you have to bring lads through that weren't even on panels last year.

"That takes a while. There is a process in that. It can be challenging when you come to Cork against a team that have a few years ahead of you."

The Limerick manager is not surprised at where his team are at in the Division 2 standings and feels that people need to be realistic as to where his side are at.

"What were expectations coming in? That we would beat Cork, Dublin and Derry? The Louth game was the one we were really targeting and we gave as good as an account that we could. We have to be realistic about expectations and I have said that from day one."

Limerick's game with Meath has a 2pm throw-in at the TUS Gaelic Grounds.