Report: Some big names are no longer part of the Tyrone football panel

Mickey Harte's side will be without some fine players for the League

There is some very interesting news for Ulster football fans on Gaelic Life today. They report that five players from the McKenna Cup winning squad will not be in the panel for the rest of the year. The biggest name is Joe McMahon. The long-standing member of Mickey Harte's squad started the McKenna Cup final at the weekend but the paper says that McMahon's involvement this year had been 'up in the air' due to the birth of his second child and committments to study. Still, the versatile double All Ireland winner's departure is surely a blow to Mickey Harte. Also reported to be gone from the squad are Mark Donnelly, Plunkett Kane, Dermy Carlin and Kyle Coney. These departures take the Tyrone panel down to 34 players as they prep for their League opener, against Monaghan, at the weekend.