Sean Cavanagh says Tyrone are trying to work their way back to the top.

Mickey Harte's men will return to the All-Ireland series if they get the better of Sligo at Croke Park on Saturday and their attacking talisman admits that he's missed not appearing on the big stage:

"It does hurt. It's a bit surreal for people like me and big Joey McMahon, who probably lived in a bubble for the first five, six years, where we were just used to winning, we took getting to Croke Park for granted," the former Footballer of the Year notes in The Irish News.

"The last three or four years you have been scratching your head wondering 'did we become a bad team overnight or what has happened?'

"We have been labelled average and mediocre - and we have been average and mediocre - but we feel we can improve and this [beating Tipperary] probably was the first step in doing that.

"Look, it has been a hard struggle this last few years. Last year, standing in Omagh after being beaten by our arch rivals Armagh was probably a low point for me.

"We are climbing that hill. I feel we have plenty of quality in that changing room and if we can channel that in the right way I feel we have a kick in us yet."

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