Mickey O’Neill has warned that Tyrone will pay a heavy price if they fail to address a major problem with game management.
They led Westmeath by four points late on in Sunday’s round robin tie, but in the end were fortunate to escape with a draw.
Defeat would have seen the Red Hands exit the All-Ireland series and sent the Tailteann Cup winners through to the preliminary quarter-finals.
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“When we got four points up there at one stage near the tail-end of that game, we probably sat too comfortably, and then Westmeath came on with a bit of an onslaught, and we just didn’t deal with it well at all,” said O’Neill.
“It became a game of yoyo football, and that’s not what we set out to play, especially when we’re on top and we want to control the game.
“It just showed that we didn’t do it, whether that’s a focus thing, a mental thing, it’s definitely not a physical thing.
“I think it was more our mentality going into that last 15 minutes, we definitely could have controlled that game a bit better, and it’s something we’ll have to address this week.”
John Heslin’s stoppage time free drifted just the wrong side of a post as the Leinster side’s heroic effort fell just short.
“We’re very lucky, because John Heslin doesn’t miss those free kicks, and it was unfortunate for him that he missed this one, because he’s such a stalwart for Westmeath.
“We got away by the skin of our teeth, and we can count ourselves lucky in that regard that he did miss that free kick.”
Defender O’Neill expects the challenge facing his side to deepen, with a difficult trip to Ballybofey next weekend facing a team struggling to find form.
“No games are easy at this stage, especially when you’re away from home.
“We’ll have a week of learning between the ears and we’ll analyse what we can do better, but in terms of physical preparation, it’s about getting the body right, getting the heads cleared, and looking at work we have to improve on.”
But he feels Tyrone can address some of the most pressing issues this week and renew their All-Ireland challenge with a big performance in the Ulster derby against Donegal.
“A week is a short space of time, but you can improve in a week.”
“I feel that if we catch momentum, if we knuckle down properly, get ourselves right physically, we can go into this prelim quarter-final and get on to a good run, start building momentum.
“There’s a huge proportion of this team that have won an All-Ireland there’s the U20s coming through that won the All-Ireland.
“We have serious talent coming off that bench, and I have no doubt that if we do get a bit of momentum behind us, and we get things right between the ears, we’ll be fine.”
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