For a couple of weeks now, the Laois footballers have been seeing Sunday morning earlier than most. With their Leinster championship opener against Westmeath scheduled for a one o'clock start at Croke Park this Sunday, it's a somewhat unusual case of acclimatisation.

Chris Conway is glad to offer an explanation. "It's probably one of the earliest championship starts in Croke Park alright," he says. "But we've been training at eight in the morning for the last two Sundays and so we should be well awake by the time the game starts."

Conway, selected at centre forward for Sunday's game, will be taking part in his third championship season with the senior Laois panel, but he says that in some ways it is really his first. Having been bred on the success of the minor and under-21 sides, his impact at senior level has previously been impaired by injury. It's only now that the graduation is complete.

"It was only after Christmas that I've been with the senior lads full-time," he adds. "Before that there was always the distraction of the minors or under-21 side. But I think the side has really come together now and in terms of preparation this is as good as anything I've seen."

All Laois eyes are firmly fixed on the meeting with Westmeath, as they have been since the draw was made last November. And they have watched them overcome the controversy of Carlow and then take the Longford defence apart.

"This is sure to be your typical championship match," Conway says. "They'll have their four under-21 players and we'll have five. A lot of us have met each other at minor level as well as in the under-21 championships of the last couple of years, so they will be no strangers to us."

There was tension in the Laois camp last year, but those disturbing days are gone now, according to Conway.

"The important thing for us is that our mood is excellent at the moment. There were doubts last year after the championship about the commitment of certain players but I can tell you that there's been no such problems this year. I know the league was very much a non-event for us but there was the change of manager at the start and the fact that there was an overlap between under-21 and senior preparation didn't help either.

"Since Tom Cribben has come in, everyone has taken to him and it's been straight talking since the start. We're all confident with the progress that we've made and this is the game where we want to show it."

With Westmeath's two successful preliminaries behind them, the tag of favourites to progress to the next round against Dublin has belonged to them. "It will probably give them a little advantage alright having played twice already, and if the manager wanted to change certain plans or has certain doubts about players then he has been given the chance to iron out some of those problems.

"So they are the favourites, and I know Dublin's first thoughts are on Westmeath as well. They were especially impressive in their last game, against Longford, and the (All-Ireland) under-21 win has been a big boost to the senior panel as well, so obviously they are on a high. But hopefully we can knock them off that a bit."

Chris Conway's older brother Pat will make his championship debut on Sunday at corner back.

"We've played minor and under-21 together but even before that shared many a club game for Arles at under-age level," Chris says of his brother, two years the older at 23. "He was on the panel last year as a sub and has done very well in the league this year. He had a small thumb injury a couple of months back but now he's recovered and very much in form again. It's good to know he'll be on the pitch on Sunday."

The question still remains whether either of these teams could make their presence felt later in the championship. "I have no doubts that both these sides are capable of making it at senior level in the next few years," he says. "We're going to go for it this year but whether that happens straight away we'll have to see. We're ready to give it a shot. "And, by the way, I think that early start will be probably worse for the supporters."