Sean Cavanagh pictured at the launch of the EirGrid All Ireland Under 21 Football Championship.
**By Cian O'Connell **
Sunday's Allianz Football League Division One clash between Tyrone and Cavan features some interesting sub plots with Mattie McGleenan, the former Red Hands warrior, in charge of the visitors.
Sean Cavanagh is adamant that the ex Tyrone forward will develop Cavan further. "Yeah, Mattie's a personal friend," Cavanagh says. "He coached me in the McRory Cup back in 2000 in Armagh. He coached me for the club for a couple of years around 07, 08, 09. Great, great fella.
"I would be in constant contact with him, he lives only over the road in Eglish. He's obviously getting a tune out of Cavan at the minute, they're playing out of their skins. "The type of guy he is, he'll always get the buy in of the players. I said that before he came on board and you can see how the Cavan guys are responding to him.
"He got a scalp up in Kingpsan Breffni Park in the McKenna Cup and I've no doubt he'll be looking to come to Healy Park and send out a message as well.
"That's going to be tough for us no doubt about that. He'll know how to make life difficult for us. It's obviously our job to make life difficult for him."
Cavanagh isn't surprised at how McGleenan is adapting to life at senior inter-county level. "Not at all," Cavanagh remarks. "I knew the qualities he had from schools and club football.
Cavan manager Mattie McGleenan.
"He's a great manager, very, very clever, gets the best out of all the players he works with. Just loves it.
"You can hear it in his interviews and see it in his interviews, he's got that zest for football and football management. He really is made for it. I've no doubt he'll be successful."
Tyrone, who won a sixth Dr McKenna Cup in a row last month, were beaten in their first fixture by Cavan in this year’s competition.
“When you've won so many McKenna Cup games, you automatically assume that you're going to continue to win,” Cavan reflects about that early setback.
“But one thing I'd say is that we were short of players I suppose at that point, we maybe only togged out 19 players that day and had to bring in a few extra players for the Jordanstown game. Players injured and with their clubs and whatever.
“It was a Tyrone team there were beaten by Cavan, you have to take it on the chin. We didn't perform. You could see the Cavan guys, even though it was only early January, they were buzzing. They really took an awful lot out of that game. We have to be ready for them because we know they're a tough proposition on their day.”
