Football

Ronan O'Neill to be available for Tyrone against Armagh

Ronan O'Neill has been on fire for Tyrone recently 
Ronan O'Neill has been on fire for Tyrone recently  Ronan O'Neill has been on fire for Tyrone recently 

RONAN O'NEILL has shaken off the injury he picked up against Meath and is available for table-toppers Tyrone's clash with neighbours Armagh at Healy Park this Saturday.

O'Neill took a knock to his back in the second-half and had to be replaced, but not before he had scored 1-4 against the Royals. The Red Hands may already be assured of promotion and a place in the Division Two National league final, but O'Neill says they won't be taking things easy against Kieran McGeeney's charges.

"Mickey has instilled into us that you want to win every game that you go out in wearing a Tyrone jersey, that's the mentality that you should have", he says.

"It doesn't matter that we have already been promoted, we want to win against both Armagh and Fermanagh to keep that winning streak because winning breeds confidence and that's what this team needs going into the Championship."

Armagh may be joint-bottom of the table on three points alongside Meath and Laois, but O'Neill is well aware of the challenge the Orchard men will present this weekend.

"Armagh are a very good team," says O'Neill.

"They have had a few difficulties at times this year, as some teams do, but they have players coming back. We know all about two years ago in the Championship at Healy Park, when we perhaps underestimated them a little and they caught us on the hop, so we have to be ready for them this time. We know that they are fighting for their lives in Division Two, so they will be coming with all guns blazing, but we will prepare well for it as we have done with every other game and hopefully we will collect another two league points.

"If you look back over the years at the likes of 2005 and since then, the amount of games between Tyrone and Armagh that have gone right to the wire, they have always been nip and tuck and it will be no different this weekend and we need to be up for the challenge.

"We are going well this year so far, but we aren't getting carried away and are taking each game as it comes. In the McKenna Cup final, we looked to be down and out against Derry, but the boys dug deep to get a result. That gave us a major boost going into the National league and, any time that you can gain promotion with two games to spare, it's a nice feeling. We have won five games on the bounce in the league and we have been improving in every game as well."

O'Neill is Tyrone's top scorer in the league, with 1-15 to his name, with all but five points of that total coming in his last two games against Derry and Meath, so he is a player in form. He is happy with the way things are going at the moment but, with just two games left after this weekend prior to the Championship opener with Derry, he reveals the competition for places is the strongest he can recall since joining the senior panel.

"I had been sitting on the wings for a long time, but then I got a run of games and things have clicked for me," he added.

"I got a bit of a knock last day out against Meath, but I should be okay for this Saturday and, apart from that, I'm happy with the way that things are going and long may it continue. There aren't many games left until the start of the Championship, so the chances are running out to stake a claim on the starting 15, so whoever comes in will be doing all in their power to make the most of it.

"It's a 21-man game now and Mickey always says that he needs options to come off the bench to revitalise things when it's needed. I know for a fact that, when boys come in, they will take their chance because this is probably the most competitive and talented squad that I have been involved in."