Niall Sludden says Tyrone are anxious to reverse “the big batterings” they’ve taken in Galway.
Tyrone were obliterated by 19 points on their last trip to Galway in the 2020 National League, losing out by 2-25 to 0-12. The Red Hand won by seven at Omagh in 2019, but in 2018 they went down by four points at Tuam Stadium.
With Galway, Kerry and Mayo coming up in their next three games, joint-managers Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher have already warned their players of the massive challenge which lies ahead.
Read more: Donegal suffer huge injury blow on the eve of crunch clash with Monaghan
Tyrone defeated Donegal last time out, after a heavy McKenna Cup final loss to Derry and a narrow defeat in Roscommon, to get back on track again.
“I know Donegal were a bit under-strength, so we don’t want to be getting too carried away,” said Sludden.
“It’s one win out of two, so we still have a lot of improving to do.
“We knew that we needed a response after the last couple of games, so it was great to go out and do that.
“You could see that from the word go we were determined.
“People were saying things from the outside, but we just concentrated on what was going on in the inside - training well, training hard.
“Certain things happened. There were a few turning points in the game and that’s a thing across all the divisions.
“They’re tight games, and one day you can look really good, and the next day you might not look as good.
“So I think we’re long enough in the business to keep our feet on the ground, keep working.”
The pace is set to go up again after a fortnight break between Round 2 and 3.
“Teams are now starting to get players back,” said Sludden. “They haven’t had their full hand, but I’m sure the week off will see them get players back.
“We know what to expect. We have been down in Tuam a couple of times and taken big batterings, so we really want to reverse that.
“We know it’s not going to be easy, obviously. They were in an All-Ireland final last year.
“We have stuff to still work on and improve on, and we’re looking forward to see can we keep going and keep it on an upward curve.
“The last game (Roscommon) we went down to Connacht, we didn’t get the win, so this time we definitely want to be going down there and putting in a performance.”
Sludden continued: “Brian and Feargal have said that these next couple of weeks are going to be massive, but that’s what you enjoy - the big challenge.
“We have got Galway, Mayo, Kerry - the All-Ireland champions. We know Mayo have always been there or thereabouts as well.
“It’s exciting. We know it’s going to be tough, but we’re looking forward to it. Focusing on Galway first, and then take it from there.”
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