Ronan McNabb admits Tyrone will be seeking revenge when they host Monaghan in their national league opener on Saturday night.

The match at Omagh will be Tyrone's sixth competitive outing of the month and McNabb says last summer's Ulster quarter-final loss to their neighbours is still fresh in the memory:

"The national league is a whole new ball-game, with the strength, the pace and the intensity," the Red Hands defender says in The Irish Independent. "Going into the Monaghan game, the last time they played us they got one over on us.

"There is a wee bit of motivation to avenge last year's defeat in the championship as well. Monaghan are a very formidable side - they have proved that over this last number of years.

"It will be a massive, massive task and a performance like (the McKenna Cup final) probably wouldn't be enough to beat Monaghan.

"It sets you up for a good national league if you can get the first set of points. You want to be moving forward on the front foot and with the national league it's very competitive.

"Monaghan are going to have the same attitude, the same as every other team, so we are just going to have to up our performance, work hard during the week and identify areas to improve upon. That's what we have to do."

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