Meath will have to plan without US-based duo Ronan Jones and Ruairi O Coileain in 2018.

Both men were key members of Andy McEntee's championship team this year but will be based in the United States next season.

Outstanding young midfielder Jones scored a point after coming off the bench against Dublin in 2016 and made his first championship start against neighbours Louth in the 2017 Leinster SFC. The 20-year-old continued to impress in the engine room throughout the summer before missing the vital Qualifier against Donegal through injury.

Meanwhile, O Coileain featured in all four of the Royal County's championship matches in 2017, nailing down a starting place for the back-door clashes with Sligo and Donegal.

"We have a few lads from this year's panel who won't be available next year. Ronan Jones is in the US as part of his college degree where he has to spend two years in Boston," McEntee told The Irish Daily Mirror.

"Ruairi O Coileain has an internship with a legal firm in New York, so he is gone too for a year. But we will be bringing in a few new players. We will freshen things up a little bit and we have already contacted a few players we want in."

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