Harte wary of Oak Leafers

May 16, 2017

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte

Mickey Harte won't be taking Derry for granted when he brings his Tyrone side to Celtic Park on Sunday week.

The teams' respective league campaigns would suggest a routine victory is likely for the Red Hands but Harte is long enough in the game to know that anything can happen in an Ulster SFC derby:

"This is the championship, it's a new ball game and we're all looking forward to this part of the season," the legendary Tyrone boss told The Irish News. "Ultimately this is what we play for, we play for this time of the year, and Derry will be no different.

"People must not overlook the fact that Derry had a bad start last year in the championship when we beat them in Celtic Park, and yet they were a kick of the ball from ending up in the All-Ireland semi-final, just like Tipperary.

"So that's what Derry have to offer. Certainly on days they haven't performed as well as they would like to, and they got some bad results, but they had to have some very good results to end up where they did, and they did do that last year.

"That's the kind of people that we have to deal with, so we won't be narrow-minded enough to think that it's about their last result or last couple of results."


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