Vera Pauw is fully aware she's tasked with "making and breaking dreams" as the clock ticks down on the Republic of Ireland's voyage to the World Cup.
On Friday she named a 27-player squad for April's double-header against the USA; the snakes and ladders continuing as old faces drop out and new ones get their chance.
The highly experienced Lucy Quinn fails to make the cut "on the basis", said Pauw, "that another player is better than her". Sydney-born Deborah-Anne De La Harpe started against China in February but she's not in the squad this time around as LOI rising stars Tara O'Hanlon [Peamount United] and Alannah McEvoy [Shamrock Rovers] receive first call-ups.
Injuries rule out Niamh Fahey, Chloe Mustaki, Ellen Molloy, Jess Ziu and Leanne Kiernan, while Megan Campbell is unavailable due to personal reasons. Fahey and Campbell will be on the plane to Australia; others will be anxious.
After the America games, Ireland will play Zambia at Tallaght Stadium in June before welcoming France to Dublin for a World Cup send-off on 6 July. Opportunities to impress are running out.
"Every single moment of every single player is seen every week."
"We are planning and we are assessing but very, very consciously because we know that we are making and breaking dreams," Pauw said.
"Every single moment of every single player is seen every week. It’s narrowing down of course and players also feel they are on the edge if they cannot make it now."
The big news is that Katie McCabe's injury does not look serious. She took a bad bang towards the end of Arsenal's Champions League quarter-final win against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night and left the ground wearing a protective boot. However a scan and X-ray have shown up a bruising of the bone rather than the feared fracture.
She could feature in one, if not both, of the USA games, which are both live on RTÉ2.
"I would never bring a player, even Katie, if she has no chance of playing," Pauw added.
"If a player of Katie's calibre has a chance to playing she also brings stability to the group and that is very necessary when you play a game like this.
"We all know where we stand - we are playing the world champions, which is massive, but we need stability on the group."
Playing the USA on their own patch is about as tough as it gets. Pauw has long preached the mantra that the only the way to get better is to take on the best, and she underlined that opinion on Friday.
"When you need to get to a certain point you have to take risks of failure because otherwise you'll not get ready. You have to pull yourself out of your comfort zone to get to the highest level.
"If you get a bad defeat then of course you don’t want that and it will hurt us, but it’s better now than in the first game of the World Cup."
Asked what she expected to learn against the Americans, Pauw replied: "That we make a step in withstanding pressure and still be able to play.
"To play doesn’t mean to press the back into their half; to play means that there is a fight and an equal game and that we go through the game having chances to score, and stopping them from scoring. That is the realistic aim.
"We had plenty of easier options [for friendlies]. We’re in the situation that surprised me. I think because of the way we play, that’s it’s tough but fair, that there’s never injuries in our games and we have hardly any fouls, I think that attracts opponents to get ready for the World Cup because the amount of countries that we could have played is a lot.
"Initially I said 'have patience, have patience because it will come’. That it will come to this extent I did not expect of course, but we’ve said we need to have the highest level possible because we need to play at the highest level imaginable."
Pauw (above) has previously admitted there could be some "nastiness" directed her way in the States in relation to allegations made against her when she was in charge of Houston Dash.
She conceded she's "not looking forward to" some potentially negative attention, but remains focused on preparing Ireland for their first ever appearance at a major tournament.
"We are the women’s team, the first time ever at a finals. Experience learns that that is a tough task. We are playing the best hosts [Australia], Olympic champions [Canada], the best country of Africa [Nigeria].
"If we go through, we play most likely the European champions and if we get England out of the way, we play the world champions most likely, USA. We’re not really on the nice side of the schedule, but we’ll just dive into it.
"We’ll prepare the best we can. We will be at our best and I hope that we can make Ireland proud. In being at our best, let’s see if we can do something over there."
Republic of Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (Reading), Megan Walsh (Brighton & Hove Albion), Sophie Whitehouse (Lewes)
Defenders: Harriet Scott (Birmingham City), Jessie Stapleton (Shelbourne), Louise Quinn (Birmingham City), Aoife Mannion (Manchester United), Diane Caldwell (Reading), Claire O'Riordan (Celtic), Hayley Nolan (London City Lionesses), Tara O'Hanlon (Peamount United), Áine O’Gorman (Shamrock Rovers)
Midfielders: Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Brighton & Hove Albion), Jamie Finn (Birmingham City), Ruesha Littlejohn (Aston Villa), Lily Agg (London City Lionesses), Ciara Grant (Hearts), Roma McLaughlin (Fortuna Hjorring)
Forwards: Heather Payne (Florida State University), Abbie Larkin (Shamrock Rovers), Amber Barrett (Potsdam Turbine), Kyra Carusa (London City Lionesses), Marissa Sheva (Washington Spirit), Alannah McEvoy (Shamrock Rovers)
