Dual commitments are harmful - McKenna

GAA clubs will have to recognise that county players won't be able to play all club games, particularly if the county team is successful, according to Tyrone joint manager Eugene McKenna.

A number of Tyrone players remain doubtful for Sunday's league final against Cavan, having been forced to play club matches on the same evening as the semi-final win over Mayo.

McKenna yesterday reiterated the problem of how half the Tyrone panel were out playing for their clubs within hours of beating Mayo in Enniskillen, and how half a dozen of them came back with injuries.

Stephen O'Neill, Ciarán Gourley and Kevin Hughes appear to be short term, but defender Ciarán Meenagh is out for the season after damaging his cruciate ligament the same night.

"Of course, club football is important," said McKenna, "especially for the boys who don't get regular football with the county in the league.

"If they're not playing with their clubs then they are not getting the match practice they need, so we're always keen to see them playing for their clubs.

"When we came aware of the match with Mayo, we made it known to the authorities in Tyrone that we were unhappy with players having to play twice on the same day.

"We also cancelled training on the Tuesday and the Thursday to allow games to be rescheduled from the Sunday, but there seemed to be an unwillingness to accommodate us, and to make sure that players didn't play twice on the Sunday evening.

"I suppose it took a bit of crisis before people sat up and took notice, and I think it's definitely wrong that players should be asked to play twice on the one day. I hope it won't happen again and I think maybe it's been resolved in Tyrone anyway."

McKenna also called on the GAA hierarchy to pay closer attention to the balance between club and county fixtures.

"Club football in Tyrone, like most counties, is very competitive now, with promotion and relegation in the leagues.

"Clubs have more authority in how it's run too, and that's only good because for too long there was lip service payed to the importance of clubs, particularly from the top.

"But then their interests are totally disregarded in relation to fixtures. No one in Tyrone is against club football, but we want to see it played sensibly and we also want clubs to take a sensible attitude, and recognise that they can't have all their county players for all the matches, and that some of the league matches will have to go ahead without the county players or else you going to have a fixtures jam at the end of the year."

O'Neill, Hughes and Gourley are pencilled in to play on Sunday, but a final decision on their fitness won't be made until Sunday.

"We have selected a team that we hope will play," said McKenna, "but if it's different on Sunday then no one will go out who is not fit to play. Ciarán (Meenagh) though is a big loss for us. His injury could have happened anytime, but he's looking at surgery now and that will be very disappointing for him."

Cavan will select a team after training tomorrow evening, and are expected to be at full strength.

Under-21 player Gerard Pierson suffered a hamstring injury during his star performance in Saturday evening's win over Donegal, but should be fit to play, as will his under-21 counterparts Colm Hannon, Eamon O'Reilly and Michael Brides.