Breffni Blues 'won't fear Tyrone' - McMahon

FORMER Tyrone coach Joe McMahon has warned that Cavan pose a grave threat to Red Hand survival in the All-Ireland title race.

The Breffni Blues have traditionally been difficult opponents for their Ulster rivals, and will sense a big opportunity to strike a major blow.

With Group 1 finely balanced ahead of the final round, topping the section and exiting the championship are both realistic possibilities for all four teams.

"This Cavan game is not a banker, Cavan are a team that Tyrone have struggled with on occasions in the past, particularly with their height and physicality, which is an area of the game that has come to be so important with the long kick-outs," said Omagh St Enda's man McMahon.

"With Cavan's height, their tenacity for breaking ball, they won't fear Tyrone, because over the years, particularly in recent times, Tyrone have struggled with them and struggled to put them away."

Last season Tyrone needed extra-time to see off Cavan in the Ulster SFC quarter-final, and when the sides met again at the same stage this year at O'Neills Healy Park, the home side struggled to contain the under-strength visitors, before a late flourish saw then win by seven points.

"Despite Cavan not being at full strength, Tyrone took some time to put that game to bed, and with players back, this will be a very difficult challenge, as you would expect at this stage of the championship."

Brian Kennedy's absence left a huge void which Mayo exploited with midfield dominance in the last round.

The Red Hand captain is expected to return for this weekend's tie, but McMahon fears his presence will not be enough to solve the side's problems in the central region.

"It's going to be another challenge for Tyrone, and it's certainly an area that they're struggling with at present.

"Brian was a huge loss, and he's a big outlet for Niall (Morgan, goalkeeper). Niall is an excellent goalkeeper in many ways, but teams are beginning to squeeze Tyrone, and there's certainly a lot more that needs to be happening on the field in terms of movement and creating other options.

"With the Brian Kennedy option, teams are catching on, and are trying to curtail that threat, and have done that on occasions this year.

"It's an area for Tyrone to look at, not just long kick-outs, but short kick-outs and opposition kick-outs as well.

"Tyrone didn't help themselves in that area of the game, and the turnovers that they gave away on many occasions are things that they need to look at after a brilliant result against Donegal."

Tyrone have some of the most talented attackers in the game, but they're suffering from a lack of quality ball die to the ongoing struggle to secure primary and broken possession around the middle third battleground, according to McMahon, an All-Ireland winner as both player and coach.

"There's definitely some quality up front, but a lot of things need to happen for that to come together.

"At the minute, you're seeing it in flashes, so its' about getting more consistency in that area of the game.

"We've seen the likes of Darren McCurry and what he can bring, Darragh Canavan as well.

"That bit of quality will be needed coming into this stage of the championship, but it's important get primary possession to get these boys into the game, and that's the difficult thing at the minute for Tyrone.

"But if they can do that, that's where the consistency will come in terms of possession and taking opportunities when they arise.

"Primary possession is key, particularly in this new game, and if you don't have possession of the ball, it's very difficult to influence the score-board."

The story of this round robin group so far has been one of resurgence, with round one losers recovering to deliver resounding victories in their next game.

Tyrone and Cavan to into their decisive clash looking for that bounce and a shot in the arm that will take them to the knock-out phase of the race for Sam Maguire.

"What people probably perceived going into the Mayo game, we pick up two points here and it leaves us with plain sailing towards an All-Ireland quarter-final.

"But it hasn't worked out that way, and Cavan will be a massive game for them.

"In any aspect of sport, there's an element of psychology. If you look at golf, we see players one week winning a major and the next week struggling to make the cut in a competition.

"From Tyrone's point of view, that has been something of a challenge.

"The way the championship is structured, you have to be in position where you're constantly at a high level, because any kind of a slip-up at all, you're being punished for it, and Tyrone were certainly punished by Mayo for that.

"That comes with a bit of confidence too, and you would have though t they would have had that confidence coming off the back of the Donegal game, but they didn't seem to be comfortable in that, and they need to be in a position where they can kick on.

"The psychology sometimes can be quite simple – get back to basics, work hard for your team, move, get possession of the ball, make decisions, avoid turnovers, and punish the opposition when you get the opportunity. Sometimes you can over-think these things as players, when it can be quite simple, have a game plan as to how you want to approach the game and highlight areas that you can improve on, and focus on that for the next day out."

McMahon is hoping to see a marked improvement in a number of areas from the disappointing home defeat to Mayo in their last game.

"You could sense that early on. Tyrone were attacking early on and giving away the ball quite a bit, and then Mayo were feeding off the turnovers.

"Mayo were a bit more clinical, more opportunistic up front, they were driving into the gap, creating space and opportunities.

"Defensively, Tyrone had men back, but the issue was what were their jobs in that moment, and Mayo were finding the gaps. Despite Tyrone not being at their best, once Niall Morgan kicked that two-pointer to get them to within a point, you were thinking this is a great opportunity to kick on, but Mayo just took over at that moment of the game, and Tyrone struggled to get scores on the board.

"There were a couple of moments where the ball just got away from them, or there was a turnover, and Mayo just punished them on that, and at that stage it was very difficult for Tyrone to come back into the game."

Despite that setback, the Red Hands are in prime position to top the group, and should they finish level with Donegal on four points each, the victory at Ballybofey will see them finish first due to the head-to-head result.

"There's certainly a lot going in their favour, but in the analysis room, they'll be looking at where they went wrong, what do they need to do right, and they do have two weeks to get themselves ready, injury-wise, psychology-wise, refining what they have been doing well and trying to get more consistency into that performance.

"That will be the focus, they definitely have the players to do that, but all they need to focus on is the next game."