Rianna Jarrett said she's "bitterly disappointed" for Leanne Kiernan after the Liverpool striker missed out on selection for the Republic of Ireland's World Cup squad.
Vera Pauw revealed her 23-player panel [plus three reserves] on Wednesday morning.
Kiernan, Aoife Mannion and Megan Campbell have all paid the price for untimely injury problems, while Jamie Finn is only one of the back-up players.
Cavan forward Kiernan missed most of the club season with an ankle injury but had returned to fitness in the last few weeks, earning inclusion in Pauw's 31-player training camp and getting a 45-minute runout against Zambia last Thursday.
However she has not done enough to get a seat on the plane.
"I'm bitterly disappointed for Leanne," Wexford Youths attacker Jarrett told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
"She's had a horrendous few months. She's shown great grit and determination to get back to a level where she was in contention for the squad and it was great to see her get 45 minutes the other day in Tallaght [against Zambia], so I am bitterly disappointed for her as well."
On the other high-profile names who have missed the cut, Jarrett said: "Megan Campbell and Aoife Mannion, they just had a race against time in terms of fitness.
"They will be a massive loss to the squad. Everyone's talking about Megan and her setpieces and long throws but I think she brings a lot more to the team than that. We've seen that throughout the World Cup qualification.
"In the past couple of months Aoife Mannion has brought some real confidence and calmness to the squad.
"Jamie Finn has been fantastic. She had a great season with Birmingham in the Women's Championship in England. If you look at the qualification campaign, she's very versatile.
"She started the campaign against Sweden and she finished it against Scotland. You'd be bitterly disappointed for her but ultimately it's Vera's decision. That's the stakes at the high level.
"Injuries and selection are part and parcel of the game. The majority of the squad picks itself for every camp and every game. There's always going to be people dispapointed. Only 23 can be on that plane and in that squad for the World Cup."
Pauw will now focus on bonding her squad of players as they face up to a huge task at their first ever World Cup.
Australia, Canada and Nigeria await in Group B, with only the top two progressing to the knockout stages.
"I do believe they've got a great squad there," Jarrett added.
"They've been through a lot together, they've rose a lot together.
"Yes they'll be bitterly disappointed for those that haven't been selected or those who have missed out with injury but all they can do is come together as a 23 - and the three reserve players - and put their best foot forward.
"They're the ones that are on the plane now, they're the ones that have the next week's preparation building into that France game. And then they take off for Australia."
Another former international and now analyst for RTÉ's coverage in Australia, Méabh de Búrca, has said Finn missing out is the biggest shock when looking at the situation when Ireland had finished qualification.
Finn was substituted at half-time in the game with Morocco last November and hasn't been on the pitch for Ireland since.
De Búrca said: "In a way I was surprised, but when you look back over the record recently, I'm more surprised she's been left out of the last four games
"She was involved in the qualifiers, starting six of the games. It was just a couple of games against Georgia she was left out of. We won those games with an aggregate of 20-0 so she wasn't needed.
"Vera Pauw said herself, almost a year ago to the day, that Jamie Finn is a player we really need against very strong opponents who put us under pressure. It is quite shocking how she has gone so far back to not being in the 23."
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