Triple All-Ireland winning goalkeeper Pascal McConnell believes Sunday’s Division One encounter with Kerry at Healy Park is the ideal contest for Tyrone as they attempt to recover from a string of poor results.
McConnell, who was in goals when the Red Hands over Kerry in the 2005 and 2008 All-Ireland finals, reckons motivation shouldn’t be a factor for Tyrone.
The 2021 All-Ireland champions are bottom of the table with just two points from four games and a defeat at Omagh on Sunday would leave them in major relegation trouble.
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“Jack O’Connor has never shown much love for Tyrone and he will be travelling up looking for the two points but what a game it is for us to try and turn the thing around,” said McConnell.
“There is no bigger game than Tyrone against Kerry and we all know the history of past meetings.
“You would think that the sight of a Kerry jersey should be the team talk in itself.
“That was always the case when we played them. We always had the utmost respect for them but they were the benchmark and still are. They are the sort of opponents that you want to prove yourself against.
“What a game it would be to come out on the right side of it.”
Newtownstewart man McConnell reckons Tyrone are giving up too many goal chances.
Tyrone conceded three goals against Roscommon and four against Mayo last time out, although they kept clean sheets against Donegal and Galway.
“Kerry will pose a massive threat going forward and they will come at us with a lot of power,” said McConnell.
“Omagh is a massive field and we need to make sure that nobody is staring down Niall Morgan (Tyrone goalkeeper) at any stage because it’s happening too much for my liking.
“Going back to my own time when I was playing for Tyrone we had a defensive unit where every single man would put their body on the line.
“There was no man getting through on goal unscathed. He was stopped and men got in around goal side and we stopped goals at all costs.
“No matter what, you stop goals and if we can do that it will go a long way towards getting a result.”
McConnell continued: “Looking at it with the goalkeeping head on me, errors are costing us dearly.
“If we stop the defensive frailties and the lapses in concentration that have led to goals it will go a long way to changing things for us.
“Mayo come at you with a lot of pace and I have to say I was worried about that game beforehand.
“They have become more physical, are very mobile and we struggled when they ran directly at us.
“I think that has been something of an Achilles heel for us so far this season.
“Teams punish us when they go at us at pace. If we could cut out the defensive mistakes and the leaking of goals it could go a long way towards us preserving our Division One status.”
McConnell reckons one tactical tweak could make all the difference.
“Protecting the D is key and I would like to see Frank Burns permanently stationed there,” he said.
“There is a lot of creativity coming from deep in the opposition teams that we have played to date and that needs to be stopped.
“I think we need to get into the opponents’ faces again and bring the battle to them. I think we need to employ a wee bit of the blanket defence again.
“It may not be easy on the eye to watch but it would stop goals and could leave us in a better stead in terms of getting a positive result.”
McConnell believes it’s up to the experienced players to turn it around for Tyrone.
“The older players need to show that wee bit more leadership at the moment,” he said.
“It has been lacking in the games that we have lost.
“It’s very uncharacteristic and I don’t want to be over critical because what they have done for us has been fantastic. There is no doubting the ability that they have but Sunday is the time to get that right and everything will fall into place.”
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