Mickey Harte's side face Fermanagh at Croke Park on Sunday

Tyrone gaelic football boss Mickey Harte speaks of the "team ethic".

Nothing unusual in that, you may say because every manager in every sport will talk about "team spirit".

But the Ballygawley schoolteacher's definition of "the team" deserves a little more examination.

"Some people think that just because you have people who are part of a panel and happen to come together, once or twice a week, that suddenly they become a team," says Harte.

"But it's not like that. You have to work at being a team and at getting that all-for-one, one-for-all mentality".

Meeting Harte, you get a sense of a confident man with clear ideas on the way ahead for Tyrone football.

If he has any self-doubts they are well-hidden.

To have competitive football at this stage of our training regime is excellent Mickey Harte

"I believe that most of the training, if not all, should be done with the ball.

"I don't believe in running players round the field for no other good reason than to hurt them or make them feel 'this is so damn bad hey, it must be good'," laughs the Tyrone boss.

Conventional wisdoms or fads don't overly impress Harte.

He doesn't have a lot of time for the theory that National League success impedes championship chances.

"Statistics can be manipulated and you have to put them in perspective.

"You have to weigh up just how much it has taken out of a team to arrive at the semi-final of the National League and what level they are at on their way to their championship potential.

"You can arrive there without having pulled on the full throttle and I do believe that in Tyrone with Paddy Tally in there, we have managed our training very well".

Harte with Fermanagh boss Dom Corrigan

Therefore, Harte wants the county to retain the NFL title and will be delighted at another competitive game, before the Ulster Championship, in the final against Laois.

"To have competitive football at this stage of our training regime is excellent".

Harte also has no immediate plans to follow the likes of Armagh and Fermanagh in organising an overseas trip in advance of the championship.

"Maybe we don't need to do some of those things because, for example, for the last 10 years I've worked with virtually all of these players.

"Maybe we don't need to come as far along the way as somebody new coming into management who has to create a whole lot of relationships with people that they didn't have.

"I'm also not one for doing something because someone else did it.

"I would only do it if I believed that it was going to be of benefit to me and our team.

We have a midfield which I believe is more than adequate Mickey Harte

"When the time is right, we'll do what's necessary to achieve these things".

Win, lose or draw this weekend, Harte will analyse the performance in great detail in the days after the game.

"We have a philosophy that we want to instil in our players so that it almost becomes part of their subconscious.

"It's not an event. You work at it day-in day-out. You add a little bit on. You repeat what you did the day before.

"It's a total process and we're a bit along the way in doing that. We're obviously not at the end of the road".

Another myth as far as Harte is concerned is the perception that Tyrone's midfield is not strong enough to compete at the top level.

"If you say something often enough, people believe it and I think that's what has happened a bit with Tyrone.

"We have a midfield which I believe is more than adequate and you have to play to your owns strengths.

"No Tohill"

"Whenever we get a method in there which plays to our strengths, take advantage of what our midfielders have to offer, then we'll be able to hold our own with most teams.

"You won't always win all your midfield battles but what is midfield.

"Midfield to me is the middle third of the field.

"It's not about two people - number eight and nine. It's an entire group of players, in the front with the half-forward line, the half-backs and the midfielders.

"We haven't got an Anthony Tohill or a Dara O Se but we have decent players who can do a very good job.

"If we can set the scene right so that we can take advantage of what we have to offer, we'll not be far away in the middle of the field".