11:46, 20 Jun 2012
John Heslin is facing a race against time to be fit for Westmeath's All-Ireland SFC First Round Qualifier against Louth on Saturday week.
Heslin remains hopeful that he will be able to line out the Lakesiders despite having to undergo keyhole surgery on a knee cartilage problem yesterday.
The young midfielder tweeted: "Eleven days until the qualifier with Louth. The doc has given me a chance to play, all going well I'll be playing."
Heslin's operation was less than 24 hours after he came off the bench to score two crucial points in his club St. Loman's Westmeath SFC draw with Athlone.
Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan told the Westmeath Topic: "We're hopeful he will make it. He's an excellent footballer and the worry we had is that too much was being placed on his shoulders.
"But he's going to be a massive star for Westmeath in years to come."
Flanagan's men are gunning for revenge over a now depleted Louth side who needed an injury-time goal from Danny O'Connor to win the counties' Leinster SFC clash last month.