Meath’s Mathew Costello set to be ready for Dublin test

Forward hopes illness is behind him as the Royals prepare to face the Dubs in Leinster SFC quarter-final

Mathew Costello expects to be fit and available for Meath’s Leinster SFC quarter-final against Dublin at Croke Park this Sunday.

The Meath vice-captain missed the last round of the league with a viral infection and while he started last weekend’s provincial championship win over Longford, Costello had to come off at half-time – with manager Colm O’Rourke admitting afterwards that his full forward had been feeling unwell.

However, Costello is aiming to play against the Dubs.

“That’s it, yeah, I think I’m over it,” the Dunshaughlin man said at the launch of AIB’s sponsorship of the All-Ireland SFC. “It was just a relapse [last weekend] of whatever I had a couple of weeks ago. It was just something that needed a bit of time and rest, I should be fine.

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“I hadn’t trained much during the week, I thought I was over it after the Donegal game but unfortunately I just wasn’t fully right. But I got a half of football into me, which I was delighted with so it’s something to push on from now for the rest of the championship.”

Meanwhile, Pat Spillane jnr will miss all of Sligo’s Connacht SFC campaign because of injury. He was absent for last week’s quarter-final win over Leitrim and will also miss the semi-final against Galway.

Depending on the outcome of that Galway clash, Spillane hopes to return for either the group stages of the All-Ireland SFC or the Tailteann Cup.

“I’ve been out for a couple of weeks now,” he said. “I have osteitis pubis and an adductor tear that I’m looking after. Thankfully I’m near the end of the recovery now and I should hopefully be back for the group stages. I’m nearly there.”

Gordon Manning

Gordon Manning

Gordon Manning is a sports journalist, specialising in Gaelic games, with The Irish Times