By Barry O’Donnell

WOUNDED Tyrone could be back in championship action in a fortnight’s time depending on other results in the revamped All-Ireland series this year, but whatever the date, the defending champions have work to do.

Round one of the Qualifiers is not scheduled to take place until the weekend of June 45th but if a couple of NFL Division Three sides (most obviously Cavan and Tipperary) can reach their provincial finals, then the Red Hands could potetially face the likes of Mayo or Armagh on May 2122nd in a one-off preliminary round tussle.

That’s a lot of ifs and buts at this stage but what isn’t in doubt is the size of the task confronting joint managers Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher after last Sunday’s annihilation at the hands of Derry in Omagh.

The 1-18 to 0-10 reversal exposed huge weaknesses in the Tyrone make-up, not least the lack of form of some key individuals as well as a lack of discipline with two men red carded.

However, former Tyrone defender and assistant manager Gavin Devlin insists that recent history suggests that the county are always at their most dangerous when the snipers are ganging up on them.

“We have five weeks to get it right. We lost one title on Sunday (Ulster) but we still have a firm hold of the other one.

“We know these boys and we have been saying it year in, year out. They are at their best when they have an axe to grind, when their backs are up against the wall and it’s firmly against it now.

“Tyrone haven’t become a bad team overnight but its getting that axe to grind to get them up for the next game and if that defeat doesn’t do it then nothing will.”

“Tyrone weren’t at their best, not by a long shot, but it’s a game of fine margins. The sending off of big Brian (Kennedy) came at a really bad time as it really killed the game especially with a penalty coming a couple of minutes later.

“Those were two key moments and it really changed the whole complexion of the game. Although Tyrone were miles off where they would have wanted to be on the day I still think that Kennedy’s sending off was a big moment in the game.”

While Derry manager Rory Gallagher has been lauded for getting his tactical match-ups right at Healy Park, Devlin believed that the visitors held the edge in more rudimentary aspects of the game.

“You can talk all day about the tactics that the two teams employed but I think that the actual desire and the principles that you need to play in any championship game, Tyrone were void of them for long periods.You have to bring that energy, that drive, you have to block the opponents’ runs.”