Peter Canavan: Tyrone need to find new level to secure safety

Peter Canavan says Tyrone need to find a level of performance they haven't shown yet in 2023 if they're going to get over Kerry and survive in the top tier.

Following the weekend, the 2021 All-Ireland champions sit bottom of the Division 1 table on two points, with just one win from four.

Last Saturday, Tyrone lost their second successive game in the west, shipping four goals to a rampant Mayo side, who overcame a sluggish opening quarter to canter home by 10 points.

Canavan - who wasn't impressed by the underwhelming away support in either Tuam or Castlebar - said he was feeling confident after Tyrone's bright start but this soon evaporated after a rejuvenated Aidan O'Shea lashed home Mayo's opening goal.

"I thought Tyrone might have delivered a good performance because they have in previous years. It's a ground where they seem to relish performing in," Canavan told Game On on RTÉ 2fm.

"After 10 or 15 minutes, I was sitting with a smile on my face, thinking 'yep, they're going to produce a good one here'.

"They were moving the ball fast. They looked like they really wanted to attack and hurt Mayo and they were.

"They were leading 0-04 to 0-01 with an opportunity to go 0-05 to 0-01 ahead and we went for a goal - Petey Harte tried to fist pass it in for a goal opportunity - they intercepted, went upfield, kicked it over the bar. Next attack, they got a goal.

"And from there on, it was one-way traffic. From a Tyrone point of view, it was very disappointing. But you have to say, it's as well as Mayo have played against Tyrone in a long time."

While Tyrone do now at least return to Omagh - the scene of their only league win so far, against Donegal in Round 2 - Canavan says they need to see a significant rise in performance with the