Squad restrictions frustrating Mickey Harte

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte is frustrated at being denied access to his full complement of players on match days.

Only 26 names can be included on the team-sheet, but Harte insists the restriction should be removed.

“It’s not a way I would favour. I would think that every player should be allowed to be named. Thirty players at least should be allowed to be named on the day, and you should be able to have your pick from that,” he said.

“But somebody in their wisdom decided to do it differently, and we have to live with that.”

Tyrone face Sligo in their next All-Ireland Qualifier on Saturday week, and Harte is not looking forward to the moment when he has to break it to a number of players that they will have no involvement at Croke Park.

“I think it’s not fair, in my eyes, to have a player working all year as hard as everybody else, and yet, you have to tell him the day of the match, I can’t use you, I had to name 26 players on Thursday morning and I can’t use you.

“That’s a very difficult thing to do. I suppose everybody has to be fighting all the time and challenging to get on the team, or get on the 26, and therefore you will see that level of competition when we play together.”

Harte has called a number of members of the All-Ireland winning U21 team into his squad in recent weeks, and has watched them impress in training sessions and in-house games at Garvaghey.

But when it comes to match day, they are forced to resign themselves to being unable to play any part.

“They’re all there on merit. It’s a very fluid situation, and you have to go with what you see in front of your eyes in training, and in in-house games.

“You have to decide who is up for it just now. It could be some players today who are on the team, and some player will be on the 26, and maybe the next day you’d decide there’s another option you could be thinking about.

“That’s the way it is now. You have to fight to get in the 26 before you fight to get into the 15.”

Harte was pleased with the impact made by a raft of second-half subs in the win over Tipperary at Semple Stadium last weekend.

“It’s good that people got the chance to come off the bench and show what they can do, because when players are training as hard as everybody else and not getting much game time, it can be a bit frustrating for them.

“But I just loved the way a number of the players came in and said, look, you want to watch me, I can do things here, and I saw that from a number of the people who went in.”