Rory Brennan has backed Tyrone to re-ignite their All-Ireland challenge with a strong rebound from the devastating last-gasp Ulster Championship loss to Monaghan.
For the second year in a row, the Red Hands fell at the first provincial hurdle, floored by Ryan O’Toole’s stoppage-time sucker-punch goal at Healy Park.
Ahead of their Sam Maguire Cup round-robin ties against the Connacht champions, the Ulster runners-up and Westmeath they will look to re-enter the race with renewed energy following a five-week break from competitive action.
Former Tyrone defender Brennan saw many positives in the performance against Monaghan, despite a flat second half and subsequent defeat.
“Any day you go out, you’re going to have to beat what’s in front of you, and I think Tyrone have shown that no matter who is put in front of them, they can rise to the occasion,” he said.
“Sometimes against the so-called bigger teams, Tyrone rise to the challenge more.
“I don’t think they’ll be too worried about the opposition, I think they’ll put more focus on their own performance.”
And he believes the first half of the Monaghan clash provided Tyrone with plenty of positives to work on.
“They’ll want to try and replicate what they did in that first half against Monaghan and what they did in the later stages of the League.
“They’ll probably be a wee bit disheartened at their second half display, but I thought first half, they played some of the best football I had seen from them in a long time.
“I think they can be happy with the first half performance. Obviously they didn’t back that up in the second half, but there’s a lot of positives to take from that, and I think that, down the stretch, they’ll be there or thereabouts.”
The 28-year-old, who stepped away from the squad last December, could make a return to the county set-up next season.
He revealed that he is open to the possibility of pulling on the Red Hand shirt once again.
“I don’t know. I suppose that’s up to management in terms of how the year goes for me with Trillick.
“I thought I would just take a step away from it, gather my thoughts and see where it takes me.
“I’m happy enough with my decision so far, and I’ll see where I’m at come the end of the year.”
