Harte makes four changes for qualifier showdown with Meath

TYRONE manager Mickey Harte has made four changes to his side for their ‘do-or-die’ clash with Meath in Navan tomorrow evening (5.0).

Harte (above) is without forwards Lee Brennan and Mark Bradley through injury while the versatile Peter Harte is suspended, prompting a reshuffle from the side that went down to Monaghan in the Ulster SFC.

Richard Donnelly comes into the forwards while Padraig McNulty is named at midfield, which sees Mattie Donnelly move to wingforward.

Hugh Pat McGeary starts instead of Cathal McCarron at corner-back while Michael McKernan comes into the half-back line in place of Harte.

Meanwhile, the Club Players Association (CPA) will be afforded an opportunity to address the GAA’s Central Council later this month to present their ideas with regards to club fixtures.

This development comes after two members of the CPA executive, Micheál Briody and Liam Griffin, met with the new director-general Tom Ryan and GAA President John Horan where the CPA requested that the GA A establish a new National Fixtures Forum in 2018.

HYPE

Elsewhere, Dublin star Cian O’Sullivan believes their ability to avoid the hype has been the cornerstone of their success.

O’Sullivan is one of a select crew with five All-Ireland SFC wins with the Dubs since 2011 but he rarely looks back on his honours, his only gear is forward as they look to lift Sam Maguire for a fourth successive year.

“There have been a lot of distractions available to the team. You don’t have to stretch too far to find somebody who wants to talk to you about football or about whatever is topical – splitting Dublin in half, or whatever it is. It’s just trying not to think about those things.”

Having fallen into the complacency trap following their All-Ireland triumph in 2011, O’Sullivan has no intention of letting it happen again.

“The humility in knowing what it took to win that 2011 All-Ireland final, that probably went away from us a little bit in 2012, and that’s just when you start letting the praise and everything seep in as well,” the Kilmacud Crokes defender said.

O’Sullivan sits out Sunday’s Leinster semi-final against Longford with a shoulder injury but if his attitude is anything to go by, his team-mates won’t be taking the foot off the throttle in their chase for four in a row.