INJURIES to key men are a major concern for All-Ireland champions Tyrone with just over two weeks to go to their Championship opener.
Former skipper Mattie Donnelly is a major injury doubt for the preliminary round tie against Fermanagh on April 16, while Allstar midfielder Brian Kennedy is struggling with complications from a leg injury.
Donnelly damaged a hamstring in Sunday’s victory over Kerry, and with just over two weeks to recover, he faces a race against time.
It’s a setback for the Trillick man, who suffered a shoulder injury against Armagh on February 27, and had made a tentative return with a couple of substitute appearances.
He had been on the field less than ten minutes in Killarney when forced to go off again in the 53rd minute.
“Mattie has hurt the hamstring, so we’ll get him looked at this week and get it assessed, and get him on the rehab plan and on the pathway to recovery,” said joint manager Brian Dooher.
“He came on and did it fairly early. He wasn’t on the field long, be set up a good score for Kieran McGeary and hurt it after that and had to come off.
“That’s the nature of the football this year, with the games coming so fast, any injury at all has consequences for availability for the next match.”
Tyrone faced the threat of relegation right to the final day of the League campaign, an all-consuming crisis that demanded total focus, with no talk of Championship whatsoever.
“We haven’t looked at it yet, so we’ll start looking at it this week, and start focusing on Fermanagh.
“Our biggest concern up until now was avoiding relegation,” said Dooher.
“It was great to avoid relegation. That’s what we were faced with last week, and the boys put the heads down and worked very hard at the weekend against Kerry.
“It’s just good to retain our place in Division One and look forward now into the Championship.”
But with less than three weeks between the conclusion of the League and the first defence of Ulster and All-Ireland titles, the mood has changed this week at the Garvaghey training centre.
Fermanagh may have played their League football in Division Three this season, but with home advantage at Brewster Park, they are capable of springing a shock.
“We played Fermanagh last year and they gave us everything we wanted, and a lot more. It was a very tight match, and this will be no different up in Brewster Park. It’s set up for a good game
“You know what you’re going to get from Fermanagh, they’ll be well up for the game and I’d imagine there’ll not be much in it at the end-up.”
Double All-Ireland winning captain Dooher admitted that Tyrone’s preparation for the League was inadequate, and that the players lacked the necessary fitness levels in the early weeks.
After picking up just one point from their opening three games, they were facing the threat of relegation from an early stage.
“We probably weren’t as fit as we should have been at the start of the League.
“It was a long club season, it went on into December, and along with the long county season, there were a lot of chronic injuries that had to be managed.
“So we couldn’t do a lot of work for the first month. It was about getting boys onto the field as opposed to doing much work.
“But that’s what we expected after the year that was in it.
“I think we’re steadily improving. It might be slow, and we still have a lot of work to do to get to the level we were at last year. We’re still far off that yet. But we’ll just keep working.”
On a dramatic final day, Tyrone survived, with their victory over Kerry proving to be surplus to requirements due to results elsewhere.
Dublin’s relegation stunned the GAA world, but Dooher expects the boys in blue to have a big say in the destination of the Sam Maguire Cup in 2022.
“I still think they’ll take a fair bit of beating before it’s all over.
“They still have a lot of good footballers, and they showed that through the League, the way they came back very strong after a bad start.
“Their big-hitters are all coming back, and they’ll not be car away. They probably haven’t got back quickly enough, but they’ll still be a force to be reckoned with.”
