Former Meath star Bernard Flynn believes Westmeath have a "great chance" of ending their winless championship record against their neighbours at Croke Park this afternoon.
The rivals face off in the Leinster SFC semi-final at headquarters today (Live on RTE.ie and RTE2 from 1.30pm) with the heavy hand of history pressing down on the Lake County.
They have never beaten the Royals in 22 championship attempts, with draws in 2001 and 2003 Westmeath's best results to date.
However Flynn, who manages Mullingar Shamrocks, and whose son Billy is a Westmeath minor, believes his adopted county have no reason to be concerned about statistics today.
"It's a long time. I'm living here 24 years so I've seen the pain in the faces a number of times," he told RTÉ Sport.
"It's hard to believe and at some stage it's going to have to stop. Whether it'll stop on Sunday I'm not so sure but Westmeath have a great chance of beating Meath.
"Meath have made five changes and the guys [that are] back, Conor McGill, Mickey Burke, Bryan Menton, Kevin Reilly and Mickey Newman will be a big help and strengthen that team.
"But it's a mental battle for Tom Cribbin and all the Westmeath squad.
"I manage five of the guys, so I know them quite well, there's been a good bit of banter all week.
"There's huge interest in the game and a big Westmeath support going up, hoping they're not going to have heartbreak."
Meath cruised to a 4-10 to 0-11 win over their neighbours in the side's meeting in Division 2 earlier this year and Flynn believes that Westmeath will need to build a lead early on if they are to win today.
"The likes of John Heslin, Kieran Martin, Denis Corroon, there are some excellent players throughout that team.
"They'll take a bit of beating but they won't come back from a six or seven-point deficit. They must start well if they are to have a chance to win.
"I think Meath will just shade it but it will be an almighty battle and closer than most people think."
Meath struggled to put away Wicklow earlier this month, conceding 3-12 in the process, and Flynn admits that they need to improve drastically to advance to a Leinster final.
"They'll have to or they'll be beaten. It's as simple as that," he said. "It could have been 5-13 or 5-14 Wicklow could have scored.
"That's credit to Wicklow. Johnny Magee and the boys put a big effort in but Meath were poor on the day.
"Defensively they were poor. The fitness levels weren't great. The aggression and work-rate were very disappointing.
"You'll see a different Meath team on Sunday. I've no doubt about that."
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