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.
Struggling Tyrone host Kerry in the next round of the league, and Peter Canavan tells @GameOn2FM he is hopeful fans will come out in numbers to try and help their team stave off relegation concerns pic.twitter.com/3GACxTyHU2
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 27, 2023
"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 reigning All-Ireland champions landing into town.
"Tyrone have to perform to a level they haven't performed at yet if they're going to get over Kerry.
"We're sitting at the bottom of the table. We have to win at least two of our remaining three games. And we have Monaghan and Armagh after that.
"The Tyrone support has been very poor. In Galway, it was poor and in Castlebar on Saturday night.
"I'm hoping in Tyrone, the supporters come out in their numbers and give the team a bit of backing because it will take a massive performance if they're going to get one over Kerry."
Kerry followed their own humbling defeat in MacHale Park by eking out a one-point win in a suffocating encounter against Armagh in Tralee.
While Jack O'Connor's side had ran riot in their previous home game, an 11-point win against Monaghan, for Canavan, the manner of the victory over Armagh, though comparatively unglamorous, will please the Kerry manager far more.
"I think he'll take a lot out of it. Because that's the type of game that until recently, Kerry were losing," says Canavan.
"You had to be impressed with Armagh's physicality. They tore into them, grinded them down and turned the game into an arm-wrestle.
Man of the match Dara Moynihan and Jack O'Connor react to Kerry's narrow victory over Armagh. #GAA #AllianLeagues pic.twitter.com/V76lFNGKLn
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 25, 2023
"That's not really what Kerry would have wanted. If it turned into a more open, expansive game of football, there was only going to be one winner. So, Armagh, by and large, played the game on their terms.
"But Kerry didn't buckle under that pressure. They withstood it and kept going at Armagh. While it was difficult to break them down, they showed patience and resilience.
"I think more than any other game in the league, Jack O'Connor will be most pleased with this performance."
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