Darran O'Sullivan expects Kerry to exercise a degree of caution against Tyrone despite putting six goals past them in the league in June and also feels the "hurt" of the loss to Cork last year is driving them on this summer.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport's Marty Morrissey ahead of Saturday's All-Ireland SFC semi-final, the former Kerry All-Ireland winner said the long gap since the Munster final - due to postponements of the semi after Covid-19 issues affected Tyrone - is not the perfect build-up to a pivotal fixture.
"It's not ideal preparation. I think most players would tell you four weeks is a long time - now it's five," said O'Sullivan.
"The 'will it go ahead, will it not go ahead' is not going to affect them. But they've looked focused all year.
"It may take them a bit of time to get into the game. They haven't had much competition so far this year but I think they have the focus at the moment that they might start a bit slower than they would have wanted, but I think they'll be okay."
Despite plundering six goals in the aforementioned resounding league victory over Tyrone, rather than bolster confidence, O'Sullivan believes the manner of victory will actually make the Kingdom "cautious" given the different circumstances of an All-Ireland semi-final.
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"It was one of them freaky games. You're watching it as a supporter, a Kerry fan or a GAA fan and you're kind of going that's not the Tyrone we know that we've been watching for the last 10-15 years," he said.
"I think Kerry know it's not going to be like that. They know Tyrone aren't going to come with that approach. The worrying thing from a Kerry point of view is that Tyrone have been very attacking this year, a lot more than usual. I can't see them being that attacking again.
"They will try to mind the house, they will try to frustrate Kerry and I think Kerry just have to show maturity and a bit of patience to break it down."
O'Sullivan added that Tyrone may be "the only team that can play two games in one match" either playing on the front foot or a more gritty defensive style.
"They're well able to change the narrative of a game," he said.
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