Laois senior football manager Billy Sheehan has made 12 changes to his team for their clash with Carlow on Wednesday night.
This O’Byrne Cup tie throws in at 8pm in Stradbally but is a dead rubber as neither team can advance.
Already, the competition has seen two walkovers given with Kildare conceding to Westmeath and Louth doing likewise to Wexford.
But this game is set to go ahead with Sheehan, and presumably Carlow manager Niall Carew, keen to get game time into the legs of their players ahead of the start of the national league at the end of the month.
Laois scored the last five points in Navan at the weekend to claim a draw with Meath but only three of that team survive.
Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen), Paul Kingston (Arles-Killeen) and Robbie Pigott (Portarlington) retain their starting spots from Saturday.
After that, the side features a lot of players who played in the defeat against Longford last week, two debuts and a return for an established midfielder.
Teenager Conor Brown has been named in the goals, the third different keeper to get a start this year.
The Portlaoise CBS Leaving Cert student was the Laois U-20 goalkeeper last year and is eligible for that grade for two more seasons.
While there is also a debut for Crettyard’s Ciaran Burke. U-20 midfielder last season, injury prevented Burke from featuring last season but he will now get his chance.
The third player making his first start of the campaign is Portlaoise’s Kieran Lillis – who was a late sub against Meath.
The other changes see Alex Mohan, Seamus Lacey, Dylan Kavanagh, Kevin Swayne, Padraig Kirwan, Cathal Doyle, Lee Walker, Niall Corbet and Brian Daly return to the team.
Irrespective of the result, Laois’s next competitive game will be a Division 4 clash away to Sligo on January 29.
LAOIS
1 – Conor Brown (Portlaoise)
2 – Seamus Lacey (Ballylinan)
3 – Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen)
4 – Alex Mohan (Portarlington)
5 – Padraig Kirwan (Emo)
6 – Robbie Pigott (Portarlington)
7 – Dylan Kavanagh (The Heath)
8 – Kieran Lillis (Portlaoise)
9 – Ciaran Burke (Crettyard)
10 – Cathal Doyle (Ballyroan-Abbey)
11 – Paul Kingston (Arles-Killeen)
12 – Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise)
13 – Niall Corbet (Clonaslee-St Manman’s)
14 – Brian Daly (St Joseph’s)
15 – Lee Walker (Graiguecullen)
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