By John Harrington

Sean Cavanagh knows Sunday’s Ulster SFC Final might well be his last, but he’s not letting that affect his focus on the task at hand. 

The Tyrone legend has previously suggested the 2017 campaign will be his swansong, but there’s little danger of him becoming sentimental ahead of the clash with Down.

“You're aware of it but you don't dwell on it too much,” he said today at the launch of EirGrid’s ‘Moments in Time’ campaign in Croke Park.

“It still is another game of football, another championship game. I've been blessed the amount of times I've been able to put on a Tyrone jersey in championship football. 

“Will Sunday's game define me as a player? I doubt it. If we win will it go down as one of the highlights of my career? Probably.

“I'm the type of person that doesn't get too caught up in any moment. That's the secret to anyone's success - try to keep the head down and keep refocused on the next challenge. I think every sportsperson will tell you something similar.

“One thing that always struck me about all the best players...you've Eddie Brennan here and I've met the Kilkenny guys at All-Star events before and they've won much more than we've won. 

“They're always very modest, humble individuals and players. I think that's definitely the secret to an awful lot of successes. That's one thing I've been acutely aware of over the years, trying not to get too far ahead of yourself and keep the head down. 

“I'm still doing that. Maybe in a couple of years time I'll be telling you how I was a great footballer, but certainly not yet now.”

Tyrone are hot favourites going into Sunday’s game against Down but humility will be easy to source because the memory of last year’s Championship exit at the hands of Mayo is still such a painful one.

“For sure, the way we exited the championship against Mayo is still fresh in the memory,” says Cavanagh. 

“You don't have to look too far to get yourself focused and remind yourself about how football can chop you down from a really good high to an extremely low position very quickly. We have to be extremely mindful of that and that's not a bad thing.”

Tyrone go into Sunday’s Ulster Final on the back of a win over Donegal in the semi-final that was so impressive it has reinstated them as genuine contenders for the Sam Maguire Cup this year. 

Cavanagh is taking nothing for granted against the Mourne County though because experience has thought him they always present a formidable challenge.

“It (victory over Donegal) was nice but at the same time the sensible heads in the squad would realise it's not the be-all and end all,” he said. 

“Sunday will present something uniquely different to that and we have to be prepared for it.

“They (Down) beat us in ‘08 after a replay up in Newry. They had us beaten in the Ulster final in 03 as well, they were nine up and they went down to 14 men. Greg McCartan got sent off and it probably let us back into the game.

“In ‘14 they took us to a replay as well so we've never had it easy against them. We've never played them and had a game where we were convincing winners so I'm very aware of the type of football they play. 

“When they're confident and things are going well they're as good as anyone in the game.”