DANNY BALL faces his first experience of championship football as a manager when his Tyrone team takes on Down at Clones on Sunday. It is something to which he is looking forward with some excitement as well as anxiety. Having selected a team which has only one newcomer to championship football, fullback Paul O'Neill, he can feel confident that his charges will not be overcome by the occasion.

He certainly is not afraid of the challenge which faces his charges against Down.

"Neither Tyrone nor Down have been impressive in the National League but that is over now," he said.

"One thing which we are aware of in Tyrone is that Down bad a bad experience against Kerry in the National League semi final in Croke Park. But Down were there and, although they played poorly by their own standards, the fact remains that Kerry are now National League champions and have beaten Cork in the final and that puts the Down performance into a different perspective.

"We will be without Pascal Canavan and Sean McLaughlin on Sunday because of suspension but apart from that we have a full panel available to us. We have completed our training schedule and it is now just a question of keeping ourselves in a right frame of mind for the match. The team is selected but will not be released before the players are informed.

"We did not have a great league. We will have to improve if we are to have any hope in the championship campaign. As things stand at the moment we have a good squad together with some very experienced players. We also have a number of young players in the squad who will be challenging for places.

"Down have a great reputation in the Ulster championship and their tradition is a great benefit to them. "They are well prepared and managed. Peter McGrath is a very shrewd and experienced manager and knows how to get the best out of his players. I believe they have a few injury problems but we will not allow that to influence our approach to the game," Ball said.

Referring to the importance of Peter Canavan to the Tyrone side, the manager said that this was an accepted part of the team's make up. "Peter will always be in the limelight no matter what he does, either on or off the field.

"He is a very important part of the way we approach the game. He is a dedicated player who knows the game inside out. He also knows what is required of him and he has a very big influence on other players around him and he knows how to get the best out of other players. His leadership qualities are vital to our efforts and opposing players respect him," Ball said.