Tyrone manager Malachy O’Rourke will continue to “mix and match” new players alongside experienced campaigners as the Red Hands go through the pre-season gears.
O’Rourke’s men face Down in their second Dr McKenna Cup game on Sunday and he is expected to shuffle his pack for the weekend run-out.
Players who didn’t feature in the squad against Armagh stayed sharp with a training session before the game and are likely to come into contention for the weekend. Darragh Canavan who was understood to be unlikely to feature in the early rounds of the league is among those working his way back to fitness.
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“The boys that weren’t involved against Armagh were all training earlier on, Darragh included,” said O’Rourke.
“They were all out in the field so everybody was training. Everyone is at different stages but we’d be hoping that they’ll all be back and be in contention for the start of the National League.”
O’Rourke’s formula of youth and experience did the trick in the opener against Armagh last Friday. The Red Hands came back from behind to win at the Athletic Grounds and Peter McCaughey, Conor O’Neill, Oisin Gormley, Nathan McCarron, Ben Cullen, Cathal Donaghy and Oisin McCann were among the rookies who got valuable minutes under their belt.
“I was pleased with them,” said O’Rourke.
“We have a big panel there at the minute and everybody is working very hard. We wanted to see them and there’s no harder place to go than the Athletic Grounds. We wanted to throw some of them in to see how they got on and, overall, we’re pleased.
“We’re wise enough to realise we’re in January, it’s very early in the year and you can’t take that much from it but it gives us a platform to keep building.
“We’d hope to use a few more of experienced boys on Sunday. It’s trying to balance it and get some of the experienced players playing with the younger, less-experienced players to give them a fair crack of the whip. We have a number of lads who are coming back from injury and we need to be careful with them, so it’s mix-and-match at this stage.
“The boys are training hard, there’s a good attitude among the group and we’re keen to keep pushing on. The main focus for us is the National League and we’re hoping to be strong in it.”
After relegation last year, Tyrone’s focus is on returning to Division One this season. The Red Hands begin their campaign at home against newly-promoted Kildare before travelling to Derry who also dropped from the top flight in 2025.
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“Getting the two points in Armagh gives us that chance to go on to the semi-final but Down next Sunday will obviously be a different game again,” said O’Rourke.
“The games come thick and fast then so it’s a balancing act because the National League isn’t far away.
“There’s no doubt that this is good preparation going into the National League and as well as that we’ll probably have to cut the panel at the end of the McKenna Cup. Hopefully it gives us a good chance to look at everybody, give them a fair chance, and then we’ll have to make those decisions.”
The conditions and the line-ups for the seasonal opener last Friday night will be radically different when Tyrone and Armagh meet again in the Ulster Championship preliminary round on April 12.
“There’ll be a lot of water under the bridge between now and then,” said O’Rourke.
“Our focus at this stage is trying to get our panel sorted out first, getting a good competitive panel going forward into the National League. Then hopefully having a good National League campaign and then coming back to Armagh in the Championship.
“In fairness, there’s no harder place to go but that’s the challenge for further down the line and we’ll keep working our way towards that.”
