Centre forward Mark Carpenter will captain the Carlow team selected for Sunday's Leinster SFC first round clash with Wicklow (Wexford Park, throw-in 3.30pm).
O'Hanrahans star Carpenter, who returned to training in February after a trip to Australia, will lead the Barrowsiders in the absence of injured Eire Og defender Cormac McCarthy (leg).
Carlow manager Liam Hayes has finalised his team for the provincial opener despite a number of injury concerns.
The former Meath midfielder has included three championship debutants – corner backs James Ryan and Trevor Smith and corner forward Ciaran Pender.
Bryan Carbery, who has recovered from the injury which saw him miss the bulk of the League campaign, has been named at right half-forward. However, Palatine clubman Brian Farrell, who recently returned to the panel, has failed to wrestle the full-back berth from Mark Brennan.
Former Dublin City and Kildare County soccer player Alan Kelly starts at right corner forward. Kelly famously declined to accept the Carlow Junior Footballer of the Year award for 2003 - he deemed himself unworthy of it as due to his soccer commitments, he had only played two games that year for his club Ballon.
Hayes, who oversaw challenge match wins for his side over Tipperary and Clare in recent weeks, reckons his players are nicely poised for the championship run.
He said: "Things have picked up well since the second half of the League. We’ve got a few players back, had a couple of victories and felt unlucky not to beat Longford and Roscommon. We’ve got a bit of wind in our sails now and preparations are going well."
CARLOW (SFC v Wicklow): J Brennan; T Smith, M Brennan, J Ryan; J Hayden, J Byrne, B English; T Walsh, P Walsh; B Carbery, M Carpenter (capt), P Hickey; A Kelly, S Rea, C Pender.
