"It's an unforgiving league" warns Cavanagh
February 03, 2017
Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh takes to the pitch at Croke Park.
©INPHO/Donall Farmer.
by Orla Bannon
Sean Cavanagh wants Tyrone to make their presence felt on their return to Division One of the Allianz Football League.
The Reds Hands skipper has been named on the bench for Sunday's opening game against Roscommon at Healy Park, having returned to action a little earlier than he planned with two substitute appearances in the Dr McKenna Cup.
"We sort of moved through the gears as the competition went on and after a lot of chopping and changing in January with players away with universities and so on, it's all come together nicely.
"I probably said I wouldn't be involved (in the McKenna Cup) but to be honest the legs felt pretty good this last few weeks.
"You do like to get a wee bit of action to get the cobwebs blown off and get your touch.
"It was good to get the game time, to get the lungs open because we need to be firing on all cylinders going into Division One. It's an unforgiving league."
Cavanagh feels Tyrone are where they should be, in the top flight, and wants the team to make an impact early on.
He already has one eye on the big clash against Dublin in Croke Park tomorrow week, an immediate opportunity to erase some of the disappointment of his last game there against Mayo in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final when he was sent off for a second yellow card.
"We want to hit the ground running against Roscommon and then there's a huge challenge of Dublin to come after that under the lights, and I think we all want to be ready for that one.
"You have to be.
"Everyone knows that the league is a very important part of the season and we are back where we feel we belong, in the top division against the big guns.
"For us to kick on to the next level we need to be beating some of these top sides.
"We're going to be challenged and challenged soon but we're looking forward to it.
"By and large the lads who will be involved against Roscommon have had a bit of game time and we're starting to get a bit of fluency in the squad.
"We know Roscommon are a young side coming at us, full of energy and exuberance, and you really do need to have that sharpness and speed of hand to cope with that."
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