Derry midfielder Anton Tohill believes his best is yet to come as he continues to adapt to the rigours of inter-county football following an excellent start to the new season from the Swatragh player.

Tohill has had to be patient for his chance with the Oak Leaf senior side, playing only a squad role under both Rory Gallagher and Mickey Harte, before being handed a starting place this season by new boss, Paddy Tally. And it's a chance he's grasped with both hands, following up his superb display against Kerry with another encouraging performance against Galway.

Despite his positive start, the midfielder says he's taking nothing for granted and vowed to continue working as hard as possible to improve his game.

"It's definitely a different game from club level and the new rules make it so different again," explained the 25 year old, "Your speed of thought has to be so high. The way teams are setting up, there are so few men back there defensively you have to be very quick with your thought but hopefully as time goes on that just becomes more and more natural. "I think I've definitely got a lot of developing to do myself in terms of trying to bring my strengths to the table as much as possible and keep pushing forward. So no, I've made a good step in the right direction but I think personally I have got more in me as well."

Derry’s Anton Tohill contests possession with Galway’s Matthew Tierney. Photo: George Sweeney

Galway boss Padraic Joyce says team "will learn" from Derry second half

Tohill said Derry's second half display against The Tribesmen, a performance that saw Tally team outscore last season's All Ireland finalists by 12 points to three, was the standard the Oak Leafers now need to reach on a regular basis.

"Potential? I'd say that's where our standard needs to be," he replied when quizzed on Saturday’s display, "I reckon that's where we have to be able to aim for as our bare minimum, pushing on then to have the game on our terms in all phases, that's what we expect to be able to happen.

"We went in at half-time disappointed with how we had performed first half. The game was very much on Galway's terms. We really struggled to lay hands on Galway at times and I think coming out for the second half with real intent, we got a few good turnovers and were able to push the ball forward and play the game on our terms. "The long kick-outs broke for us too and we were able to push forward off them too so, yeah, it was a good second half, a good step in the right direction."

Galway second half should be Derry's new normal says Anton Tohill