Expectations among Wexford hurling followers will be high in Croke Park this Sunday. For the first time since the glorious All-Ireland summer of 1996 and the subsequent fall-off which saw just one championship win in the last three years, the team to face Laois in the Leinster championship opener is built around youth.

With the likes of Martin Storey and Tom Dempsey retired, this is a Wexford team with a different flavour. Darren Stamp is only 19 and gets his first championship game at wing forward. Barry Goff, just two years older, does likewise at corner forward.

Other positions have been filled more gradually. Last year, Darragh Ryan took over at full back from the long-serving Ger Cushe, mostly because there was no one else to fill the vacancy. This year, Ryan has proven himself the man for the job and was one of the first names on the team-sheet.

"It's true that I took over at full back last year because no one else was around," says Ryan. "In fact, it was my first ever start at full back and I did find it hard to adapt. But I'm a lot better prepared for the position this year and I suppose it does suit me quite well."

At six feet two inches and around 14 stone, Ryan's build is not unlike the man who held the position for Wexford during most of the last decade. But he made his debut for the county in 1999 at centre forward, was a regular at centre back in the league and has also played at midfield for his club St Anne's. Their rise through the county this year has also brought him the honour of team captain.

While Ryan feels the team's preparations have gone as well as they could have, he is not about to predict All-Ireland success at this juncture. The immediate task is just to get back into a Leinster final.

"We're at the stage now where we just want to put the last three years behind us. It's still a rebuilding phase but we would like to get back into a Leinster final, having lost semi-finals for the past three years.

"But Laois are going to be difficult because they've had three games already this year. That's a big worry for us. We haven't played a hard game since the league, and that was seven weeks ago. Having said that we'll have no excuses if we lose on Sunday. This is what we've been thinking about since last October and we can't wait to start playing now."

The way teams have been emerging this summer, it is no surprise to see youth feature so strongly on the team. Yet Ryan feels both Stamp and Goff have done more than enough to earn their places.

Stamp played on the Wexford minor side that contested All-Ireland semi-finals in 1998 and 1999 and made his senior debut in this year's league against Cork. Goff was first introduced as a substitute against Dublin in the Walsh Cup in January and he featured in all of Wexford's league games - and finished with a scoring total of 0-11. He broke a bone in his hand during the final league game with Kilkenny but has made a full recovery.

Not only has it so far been the summer of youth, it has also been the summer of surprises - Cork losing to Limerick and then Roscommon beating Galway in football have given Ryan and others a little more belief. The fact that Kilkenny and Offaly appear to having some problems adds further weight to Wexford expectations.

"When you look at what happened with Limerick it does give you more hope. But no team will ever have their 15 best players every day. And you have to look at it the other way as well. No one has made Laois favourites for this game and they could be the ones to produce the surprise on us. So we won't be complacent in any way.

"The important thing is to perform to our best because we know we'll have good support again in Croke Park. A Leinster final would be something to really look forward to, and then we could look forward to another game after that as well."