Derry boss Damien Cassidy did not resort to blaming the absence of some of his key players as the cause of their eight-point defeat to Tyrone.
Rather, he respected the 15 that were on the pitch the who failed to overcome the All-Ireland champions.
“I can turn around and throw that stuff out but that would be paying serious disrespect to the people who were out there,” Cassidy argued afterwards.
“We had 15 fellows who went out there and they tried to play the game we wanted to play and you can’t just disrespect those players’ efforts.”
The Derry manager said he believes in every member of his team, but the pundits and spectators will feel that the loss of men like Fergal Doherty, Fergal McCusker, Enda Muldoon and James Kielt dealt an early blow to the Derry team’s confidence and left their subs bench looking weak and sparse.
Tyrone attackers Tommy McGuigan and Martin Penrose shone with a total tally of 11 points between them, giving the Derry defence a hard time.
“That’s the strength of Tyrone and that’s where the credit has to lie. It’s a team performance and you have to get your scores from around the team.
“Anyone who thinks you can go out and beat Tyrone by marking two or three players is living in another planet. They have a strong team and they have a range of options and scorers,” added Cassidy.