Tyrone forward Owen Mulligan has admitted that his side are in a relegation battle in National Football League Division One but says they are up for the battle.
The 2008 Sam Maguire winners have already lost to Derry, Mayo and Monaghan in their winless campaign and the games only get tougher with Cork – Tyrone’s dominating conquerors in last season’s All-Ireland semi-final – next up on Saturday, followed by games against Galway, Kerry and Dublin.
So Cork are first up. They had five points to spare over Mulligan and his team-mates last August in a game in which the forward only managed two points from frees and found himself under a tirade of abuse from Rebels fans after Cork’s Alan O’Connor was sent off following an incident involving him.
Revenge will likely be a motivation when the Rebels arrive in Omagh but Mulligan knows that Cork – with three NFL wins out of three – will also be up for the game and is under no illusions that a turn in Tyrone’s fortunes will come automatically.
"We all know what happened at Croke Park, they gave us a right going over," Mulligan was quoted as saying by the Irish Examiner.
“We’ll all be up for the game as I’m sure they will be so we will see how it goes.
"It’s a relegation battle now.”
Tyrone looked like they might get that first win of the year against Monaghan in Inniskeen on Saturday but, just as they had gotten on top, a careless goal was conceded when the normally safe Conor Gormley gifted possession to goalscorer Thomas Freeman and the Farney men went on to record a one-point win.
But Mulligan rallied behind his team-mate and says collective responsibility must be taken. He added: "The goal was a bit of a killer but it was unfortunate.
"It wasn’t like Conor and he will bounce back from that and I’m sure the team will as well, in training on Tuesday night.
"People will point the finger at Conor Gormley but, at the end of the day, he had nobody to kick the ball out to so we all have to put our hands up.
“We were a bit unlucky. We played well first-half but just didn’t click in the second-half."