Mellon, who has fulfilled a variety of roles for the Red Hands over recent years, believes that the players must be prepared to go the extra mile to compensate for the absence of such icons as Peter Canavan and Stephen O'Neill.

And he acknowledges Tyrone will be under pressure to make up for their disappointing show in last year's All Ireland series.

"While it was good to win the Ulster Championship last year, we did not do ourselves any real justice in the All Ireland Championship when we were beaten by Meath in the quarter-finals (1-13 to 2-8)," said Mellon.

"We are now getting an opportunity to put that right this year and without the likes of Stephen O'Neill and of course ,Peter Canavan, who has been gone for a couple of years now, it is up to the rest of us to step up to the mark."

And while he is particularly pleased to see Brian McGuigan back in the Tyrone attack, Mellon makes a plea to fans to 'give him time to allow him to reach his best form.'

McGuigan endured a traumatic two-year spell with injuries - a broken leg and a serious eye problem - and it was only during the recent National League that he began to acclimatise himself to inter-county football again.

"When Brian broke his leg, there were complications with the injury," said Mellon.

"Then when he got the eye injury some people started to think that he might not be back because they feared the extent of the injury,.

"Since he has come back, he has been brilliant - sometimes you would think that he has not been away at all.

"He is only human though. Even though he is immensely talented, he still needs that wee bit of time to get back up to the top level again."

With a strong Ulster focus initially on Monaghan's prospects of landing the title and then the spotlight switching to Derry. Tyrone, for a change, find themselves preparing for a major championship game against a relatively anonymous backdrop.

"Yes, it's a much quieter build-up this year, but we're not complaining about that," said Mellon.

"The emphasis appears to have been on other sides up until now although all we are interested in is beating Down on Sunday. That would give us entry into the semi-final.

"The fact that we are preparing out of the spotlight is not a bad thing from our perspective. It means we can just focus on ourselves. Our main objective will be to put in a big performance and get a victory over Down."