We will be in a stronger place come Championship: Jim Gavin

Jim Gavin says the experience of playing against massed defences, as that employed by Tyrone in last Saturday night's NFL Division 1 draw in Croke Park, will hopefully serve to improve his side.

"Teams not going man-to-man is a compliment to the threat that our forwards pose," said JIm. "It is a reality, something we are facing and are in the middle of. It is a fantastic to have that challenge at this time of the season and we are learning lots from it. So it has been very productive.

"We have come across it before. I thought we controlled the game well in general but some of our decision-making and passing let us down at crucial moments when, with a couple of more phases of play, we might have found a gap.

"Sometimes patience let us down and the way some of these defensive systems are designed to counter-attack, when we turned the ball over they would have got scores off those counter-attacks.

"We are trying new things, tactically we are trying new things. Some work, some don't. And we want to give players a chance to stake a claim, not only in the starting 15 or squad of 26 but on the panel itself. You have to give every player a fair chance.

"It can be a rough sea, but we are going to hold our course and we are very much in control of where we want to go. And I think once we come out the far side of that process, we will be in a much stronger place come championship."