Tyrone U20 manager Paul Devlin has no concerns over his side’s readiness for tomorrow’s first defence of their Ulster title.
Opponents Donegal have a preliminary round game under their belt and travel to Healy Park with a morale-boosting win over Armagh to their credit.
While the reigning champions have yet to play a competitive tie, their manager is confident that several weeks of club football will have provided the vital sharpness.
“Donegal have one game behind them and that’s to their advantage.
“But our lads have all been getting club football and they’re all competitive, hard-hitting games in Tyrone,” said Devlin.
“They have five really competitive club games behind them, and I feel that will stand to them.
“They’re getting football, they’re playing at a high level, and it’s just a matter of getting it to gel on the night.
“Yes, Donegal have had that game, but they have to go again, and it’s about how they react to that.
“They have to come to Healy Park, and we’ll have a welcome for them.”
Devlin was impressed by Donegal as they cruised to a 1-17 to 0-8 defeat of Armagh at Ballybofey.
“They put in a good all-round team performance, they got the job done.
“It was a big ask for Armagh to go up there to Ballybofey and take on Donegal, it’s their home ground and you’re not going to win there too handy.”
The Tyrone boss stressed the importance of getting his players mentally prepared for the challenge facing them at the Omagh venue.
“We always said all along our biggest focus is on ourselves that is the main thing, you don't know what comes upon you.
“You hope the lads react to the challenge that is put in front of us but the
biggest goal for ourselves is getting ourselves in the right frame of mind for who we have.
“We have to focus on ourselves, what we're doing on the training field.”
And he insisted that there is no extra pressure from the disappointment of losing successive All-Ireland semi-finals over the past two seasons after winning the Ulster title.
“Ach no, at the end of the day you always want to help out. Tyrone have been good to me, have been good to my family over the years, we want to keep the process going and develop lads as it goes along.”
He paid tribute to the work done by strength and conditioning coach ConalMcElholm in getting the squad members to peak condition ahead of the Championship.
“A lot of credit has to go to ConalMcElholm, our strength and conditioning coach, he does a lot of work behind the scenes, online and stuff, a lot of credit has to go to Colin, he kept everything going and been immense.
“You can see that in the lads on the training field now, they're in perfect condition and they're raring to get going.
Along with his assistant, Dermot Carlin, Devlin has been on constant alert for new players who may have the qualities to make it at inter-county level, and the door has always been left open for new arrivals.
“You're always looking at what's out there and who's coming to the fore, lads we've missed coming through academies and stuff, the lads who were in at U17 and U16.
“We have seen a few club games, especially some of the lads we have in the panel to see how they've been performing with the club, that's been a big bonus, seeing them in competitive games.”
