ULSTER is the most competitive province “by a country mile” says Frank Burns who expects Sunday’s Monaghan to be a different animal to the side Tyrone beat so comfortably in the League a month ago.
That eight-point win left Monaghan on the brink of relegation but, as always, Vinny Corey’s side refused to go quietly. They confounded the pundits by winning in Mayo and 2021 All-Ireland winner Burns says that tells you all you need to know about the spirit in the Farney county.
“The way they turned it around and dug that one out of the bag against Mayo… Nobody was fit to do that (beat Mayo) in the League so it shows the fight Monaghan have in them,” said the Pomeroy clubman.
“To be honest, I probably expected that result. The last couple of years, people thought that Galway and Dublin would put them down and nobody could.
“The Monaghan we played the last day was a shadow of the Monaghan we’ll play in the Championship and we know that. We know what we’ll be facing and it’ll not be the Monaghan we beat at Clones.”
Tyrone finished their League campaign with three wins on-the-trot and Burns is happy with the rapid turnaround to the provincial Championship which began with Armagh’s win against Antrim last weekend.
“The more games the better,” he said.
“Ulster is the most competitive province by a country mile so it’s going to be tough – no doubt about it. I’ve been asked about what happened to us last year so many times and I genuinely can’t put the finger on it.
“Everybody trained just as hard, we wanted to do back-to-back but it’s something no Tyrone team has been fit to do. We’ve come back this year and the work that goes on in the background with Feargal (Logan) and Brian (Dooher) and the coaching staff is phenomenal, all we have to do is show up and play. Everybody is putting their shoulder to the wheel, we’re all on the bus going the one direction and we want to push on.”
Burns has been very solid in a defensive midfield role which helped provide the stability for youngsters like Cormac Quinn, Michael McGleenan, Joe Oguz to find their feet during the League. Burns says competition for places is fierce these days.
“They have come in and they’ve pushed everybody else on,” he said.
“Nobody is comfortable in their position and that’s exactly what you need. They’re all flying. The U20s won the All-Ireland last year and they’re coming in and we know they’re coming looking places so competition is there and it’s healthy and we’re happy with where it’s at the minute.”
Victories over Kerry, Monaghan and Armagh meant Tyrone eased away from relegation issues in the League and mean Tyrone go into the Championship with a head of steam.
“We weren’t in a deadly-position a few weeks’ ago,” Burns agreed.
“We were facing relegation so I’m just happy the way we went back to the training ground and we dug it out and thankfully we turned it around. But the League is done now.”
