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Harte sees hope for Dublin's challengers

Mickey Harte pictured at the launch of the 2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship.

Mickey Harte pictured at the launch of the 2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship.

By Orla Bannon

Mickey Harte says there is hope for Dublin's challengers this summer and does not believe Jim Gavin's four-in-a-row chasing All-Ireland champions are unbeatable.

The Tyrone manager senses the Dubs' aura of invincibility could be coming to an end and believes are more vulnerable than they have been for a long time, particularly without the class of the injured Bernard Brogan and, for the moment, the absent Diarmuid Connolly.

“Whenever you keep winning and the people have the medals, it is hard to see them all having the hunger to want more,” claimed Harte. “Sometimes you can't replace the old hands.

“New ones, no matter how talented they may be, they don't have the experience or the guile of the boys they are replacing.

“There is a wee window of opportunity, where they are maybe a wee bit below the high standards of where they have been over the past couple of years. We can only hope.”

Dublin inflicted one of the worst defeats of Harte's 16-year reign on Tyrone in last year's All-Ireland semi-final.

Con O'Callaghan's early goal was the platform for their 2-17 to 0-11 victory which seemed to suggest the gap between Dublin and their main challengers was widening.

Most of Dublin's opponents may be quietly accepting that a four-in-a-row is a growing inevitability, with their desire to be recognised as one of the GAA's all-time great teams a compelling driving force. Making them unbeatable, even.

“I wouldn't subscribe to that fatalism,” insisted Harte, speaking at the Ulster SFC launch in the O'Neill's factory in Strabane.

“No team lasts forever. Now, some teams do take a lot longer to get rid of than you would like if you are from a different county.

“But Dublin are in pole position. They deserve to be where they are. They are a serious outfit. But, there has to come a time when they can be beaten.

“I hope that we are one of the ones that are around when that happens.”

Tyrone footballer Colm Cavanagh.

Tyrone footballer Colm Cavanagh.

Harte has injury problems ahead of Tyrone's Ulster SFC opener against Monaghan on May 20 in Omagh.

All Star Colm Cavanagh is extremely doubtful, while Lee Brennan is the latest big scare after picking up a hamstring injury in a club game for Trillick on Sunday.

“Lee got a hamstring issue. We don't know the full detail of it but I think he came off as soon as he found that so that is always good.

“He is seeing the physios tonight and has been talking to them and from speaking to them it doesn't appear to be a serious hamstring injury.

“The fact that he came off as soon as he found it is promising that it is not too serious.”

Cavanagh is struggling with a quad injury and hasn't trained fully with the team.

“He is still not right...he is definitely under pressure to be ready. I am still not giving up hope and would love to see him at a more advanced stage than he is, but it is not a case where it is lost yet, but he is under pressure.”

Tiernan McCann has also fully recovered from the knee injury picked up in the early rounds of the league against Kildare.

Harte said he is “back in business” and played part of Killyclogher's league game against Moy on Sunday.

“He is happy that he is over the injury part of it. He is not concerned about that, it is his lack of match fitness I suppose is his only problem.”