Brian Dooher has been given a great incentive to return from injury after Mickey Harte handed him the Tyrone captaincy once again for the coming season.
Dooher, who captained Tyrone to All-Ireland titles in 2005 and ’08, has been excused from McKenna Cup duty and is training on his own in an attempt to prolong an inter-county career that began in 1995.
Harte sees no reason for a change to the team captaincy, with vice-captain Ryan McMenamin or Stephen O’Neill ready to fill in when Dooher is unavailable.
'We'll be keeping every avenue open for Brian Dooher,' Harte told the Irish Daily Mirror.
'He is one of those men you would do that for. If he is injury-free, then I see no reason why we need to change.
'He is a long way from doing flat-out work, but we're happy with the progress he's making. He is happy enough himself and I am optimistic that if things continue that way and he has as little pain as he has right now, then he will be with us.'
