Rising Tyrone star Ben Cullen is unlikely to play any part in the county’s U20 campaign.
He didn’t feature in last weekend’s Ulster Championship opener against Antrim, and won’t be part of the squad to take on defending champions Down next Wednesday.
Exciting newcomer Cullen has broken into the senior side, and has played in four of Tyrone’s five Allianz League Division One games this year, starting three of them, and would have appeared in all, but for a late withdrawal from the starting 15 to face Galway.
An injury crisis means the seniors can’t afford to be without any fit players as they face into a battle to avoid relegation, including this weekend’s crunch Ulster derby against Monaghan.
But there’s no friction between the management teams, and wing back Cullen has the full backing of the U20 set-up as he forges a career at the top level.
“We don’t really know what the story is with Ben at the minute,” said U20 coach Cathal McCarron.
“It’s not that we have a problem. Ben is doing a great job with the seniors, and the seniors need him.”
Paul Devlin, now in his seventh season as Tyrone U20 manager, has always maintained that his key role is to develop players to play senior football for Tyrone.
“This whole U20s thing is a stepping stone to senior football,” said Omagh St Enda’s clubman McCarron.
“We’re here trying to make senior footballers for Tyrone for this year, next year and on.
“Ben has taken his chance this year, and we’re delighted to see Ben playing at the level that he’s at.”
The Edendork lad’s early promotion to the Red Hand senior squad sets a target for his contemporaries who aspire to follow the same path, according to McCarron.
“It gives a lift to the lads. We’re training at Garvaghey and we’re on one pitch and the seniors are on the next pitch, and they can see that Ben is there.
“That’s the aspirations that we want, to put our lads on to the senior set-up. Whether it’s the next six months, whether it’s the next 12 months that’s the goal, and Ben has got there a wee bit earlier than the rest of them.
“But we’re all going in the one direction. It’s not that we don’t have Ben, it’s just that he’s doing a great job for the seniors.”
Tyrone’s bid for a second Ulster U20 title in three years got off to a resounding start at the weekend in a 33 points win over Antrim, with Aussie Rules target Eoin McElholm bagging a hat-trick of goals in the 8-16 to 0-7 rout.
“There’s a real bite in the group to try and make a panel, never mind a first 15,” said McCarron.
“Everybody that gets their chance, they’re trying to make the most of it when they do get tehri chance, and we’re really lucky that we have a lot of quality throughout.
“We have a lot of quality that played, we have a lot of quality that didn’t play, and every day you get a jersey, you’re trying to put it in a better place when you’re finished with it, and a lot of the boys definitely put their hands up today.
“It’s going to be very hard to take the jersey off some of those boys after that performance.”