Varley found the net in Galway's 3-12 to 1-10 victory over Laois in week one, but has predicted a much tougher task when Mickey Harte's side come to Pearse Stadium in Salthill on Sunday.

Varley, one of five of the 2013 All-Ireland U-21 champions to play for Galway last weekend, admitted the Tribesmen have been hugely boosted by their away win in Laois, and that two points against the Ulster side would be a massive achievement.

“Everyone knows how much Tyrone seem to be improving after last year. They are just a real powerful team,” said Varley.

“Along with Donegal they are probably one of the best teams in Ulster again. They have some great young players coming through too and we are expecting a real serious game.

“This will probably be the toughest game we'll have in the league this season so we have to be ready for it. We'll need to hit the ground running against them. Two wins would be a great start,” said the Cortoon Shamrocks attacker.

Another one of that successful U-21 team is Damien Comer, and his two goals were key in that win at O'Moore Park. Varley regards Comer as a real talent and the duo have struck an excellent understanding in the full-forward line.

But he also is well aware that Galway will likely need to get on a decent run of form if they are to gain promotion. Loose periods of play will be severely punished, he says.

“We were disappointed that we let Laois get a few silly points and they got a soft goal, but that happens. We still won comfortably enough, but we'll have be a good bit tighter against teams like Tyrone. That just won't do against them.

“It was important that we got off to a good start in the national league and we went up to Laois with a very poor record against them, but thankfully got off to a winning start.

“Away games can be very difficult to win in this division. We've had a few terrible runs in the last couple of years – we were beaten by 15 points in Portlaoise a few years ago, so we know how important it is to have two points in the bag.

“Myself and Damo (Comer) have played together for a good few years now. We were on the same U-21 team in 2013 when we won it so we built a good understanding since then.

“But game by game we are improving too, and hopefully we can improve against next time against Tyrone,” he said.