An announcement about the composition of the Meath team for Sunday's Leinster final against Dublin have been postponed because of the death of the mother of Meath midfielder John McDermott. Mrs McDermott died on Sunday night after suffering a stroke.

Yesterday team manager Sean Boylan said the matter of team selection would be put on hold until later in the week. Doubts about the fitness of Tommy Dowd persisted yesterday. He is still having treatment for a back injury and might make an appearance at some stage during the match. Eventually, he will have to go for surgery to correct the problem, but there have been reports that a proposed operation will be postponed for the moment.

The news about other members of the squad was not encouraging either. Nigel Nestor, who is favourite to replace Dowd, has a persistent hamstring strain and did not train over the weekend. Other names being mentioned as being in the running for a place in the starting line-up include Raymond Magee, Richie Kealy, Barry Callaghan and Jimmy McGuinness.

Callaghan and McGuinness have been out injured and although they have played with their clubs recently, are not regarded as fully match-fit.

Dublin's team will not be known until Thursday night. Hopes are still high that Paul Curran might be available to make an appearance. "We will have to wait and see," was how team manager Tom Carr put it yesterday. He said that apart from Curran, everyone else in the squad is available. Ulster finalists Armagh and Down are also delaying selection until later in the week. Armagh right half forward Alan O'Neill is definitely out of contention after he suffered a neck injury in Clones in the semi-final against Derry. Cathal O'Rourke is thought to be a likely replacement.

Down have worried about midfielder Gregory McCartan, who has a cruciate ligament injury in his right knee. He has made good progress under treatment but may be short of match fitness and is unlikely to be included. James McCartan is still suffering with a back injury and is almost certainly out of the running for a place.

The Ulster Council has announced that Sunday's match will be an all-ticket affair and that strict control will be imposed on people wishing to attend the match. Several different colours of tickets are being used in order to direct people to different parts of St Tiernach's Park.