Tyrone forward Ronan O'Neill says he hopes he can be one of the players to fill Sean Cavanagh's boots when the five-time All Star decides to hang up his boots.
O'Neill and his team mates are currently gearing up for an Ulster semi-final showdown with Cavan on Sunday and the Omagh St Enda's man says it will be up to others rather than veterans in the team to step up to the plate come crunch time against Terry Hyland's side.
"I'm 23 now, so I am at that age where I am in the middle bracket of players," O'Neill told GAA.ie
"I can't be looking to the older players now, I am probably one of those players myself. As the years go on, you have to take the mantle on yourself.
"Sean Cavanagh might be in his last year and we can't always look to Sean and the likes of Mattie Donnelly all the time. Others need to step up. It is good to have that mantle of always stepping up when you need to."
Having bagged 2-2 in their championship opener against Derry last month, O'Neill still feels that an overall improved performance will be needed against the Breffni men in Clones this weekend.
"The last day against Derry we had a very good first half but a slack enough second-half and that's what we probably need to work on the next day against Cavan who are probably a better opposition and play a tighter game.
"I suppose it's just a sense of trying to get better every time we go out. To improve ourselves individually and collectively as a team. I think it comes from the training pitch where we work on different aspects of play where boys know when it goes onto the pitch that we've worked on it in training."
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