Tyrone joint manager Feargal Logan has admitted the All-Ireland champions don’t have much time to get things right following a 15-point humbling at the hands of Cavan.
The Red Hands begin their NFL campaign in just over two weeks but looked a long way off readiness as they slumped to a heavy Dr McKenna Cup defeat at Kingspan Breffni Park.
“You don’t like to take to a football field and surrender to the opposition like we did,” Logan admitted. “Cavan deserve full credit for the way they took us on and gave us a bit of a lesson.
“We were soundly beaten and that’s life, that’s football, so we just have to start again on Thursday night and get at it at the weekend.”
Tyrone started the midweek fixture with just four members of their All-Ireland winning team, all of them All-Stars, with three more coming off the bench.
But there was no sign of any cohesion as they struggled to blend with fringe players and newcomers.
A 1-17 to 0-5 loss had some mitigating factors, including the fact that the Sam Maguire Cup holders had only returned from a squad holiday in Florida on Sunday.
Logan added: “We’re just back home out of the States and it will hopefully bring everybody round to getting ready for 2022.
“We have good players coming through and we have to give them opportunities.
“Cavan had men coming in, most counties are using the McKenna Cup that way, so we’re not making any excuses.
“Fair play to Cavan, well done to them and we’ll just have to lick our wounds and start again.”
Given the sizeable score difference, Tyrone are unlikely to qualify for the semis so this weekend’s clash with Armagh could be their last outing before facing Monaghan in the League on January 30.
