"I said to the players afterwards that this was as bad a performance as I have been involved with from a Tyrone team over all the time I have been involved, at any level, and at any age."

That reaction from Mickey Harte following the Red Hands 0-6 to 1-13 defeat to Donegal in the league said it all.

Can his players right that wrong tomorrow? As preliminary round championship games go, they don't come any bigger, or better, than Donegal versus Tyrone in Ballybofey.

"Along the way we had a few good performances but that day in Ballybofey against Donegal they were streets ahead of us and from there to now we have been working really hard on the training field to close that gap," Harte's assistant manager Gavin Devlin remarked this week.

"We'll see on Sunday how bad we are really going."

Goalkeeper Niall Morgan is a big loss for the Red Hands and his place between the posts goes to Clonoe's Michael O'Neill.

Elsewhere, captain Sean Cavanagh has put his knee injury behind him and will wear the number 14 jersey while midfielder Padraig McNulty will make his championship debut.

The Donegal starting 15 also includes one championship newcomer with Hugh McFadden getting the nod ahead of the experienced Colm McFadden in the full-forward line.

He will have Anthony Thompson and Mark McHugh for company on the bench.

Donegal manager Rory Gallagher isn't reading too much into Tyrone's relegation to Division 2.

"I feel there is too much made out of Tyrone's relegation," he remarked.

"No-one wants to go down, but if you take out our game and the Monaghan game when they changed their tactics after that, they will be pleased with their performances and their results."

Nonetheless, Gallagher's charges are fancied to make it four wins in a row against Tyrone in the provincial championship.

Verdict - Donegal.

Donegal team: Paul Durcan; Paddy McGrath, Neil McGee, Eamon McGee; Ryan McHugh, Karl Lacey, Frank McGlynn; Neil Gallagher, Martin McElhinney; Martin O'Reilly, Odhrán Mac Niallais, Christy Toye; Patrick McBrearty, Michael Murphy, Hugh McFadden.

Tyrone team: Michael O'Neill; Aidan McCrory, Ronan McNamee, Cathal McCarron; Ronan McNabb, Justin McMahon, Peter Harte; Colm Cavanagh, Padraig McNulty; Tiernan McCann, Matthew Donnelly, Barry Tierney; Darren McCurry, Sean Cavanagh, Connor McAliskey.

Match details: Sunday, Ballybofey, 4pm.

Referee: Joe McQuillan.

Odds: Donegal 1/2, Draw 13/2, Tyrone 12/5.

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