Republic of Ireland striker Emily Whelan is hoping to kindle an attacking spark with new Glasgow City clubmate Abbie Larkin that catches fire on the international stage.
Whelan has been largely overlooked for Ireland in recent years, with former boss Vera Pauw favouring a formation that leaned on a hard-running lone attacker.
The 21-year-old slipped behind the likes of Heather Payne, Kyra Carusa, Amber Barrett and, more recently, Marissa Sheva in the pecking order, but interim boss Eileen Gleeson has brought Whelan back into the fold for the UEFA Nations League games with Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday and Hungary in Budapest on Tuesday.
Gleeson managed Whelan at Glasgow for a year so knows exactly what the Dubliner brings to the table: a strong, clever goalscorer, she helped Glasgow City to the Scottish Premier League title last season.
Talented winger Larkin completed a move there from Shamrock Rovers earlier this month, and Whelan believes they have the attributes to feed off each other.
"I think Abbie is going to be a great asset to our team," she says.
"She's going to bring great depth, she's a great player. I'm really excited to see her come over and see what she can do.
"Creating relationships at club level and bringing them into international level is always important and good to have. It'll be exciting to see what relationships we create with Abbie and bring it in here [to Ireland camp]."
Whelan admits she was frustrated not to have played a bigger role in Ireland's World Cup journey.
She's been around the senior setup since 2018 but only has seven caps to her name, so this window represents a big opportunity for the Balbriggan native to really stake a claim.
"Not getting in was tough, but I was just trying to [make an] impact at my club to show I can be here," she adds.
"I supported the team the whole way through the World Cup, I was just really happy for them.
"At the time, I focused on individual stuff and saw what I could do to be better... the support of my club and teammates, my family and stuff, that helped a lot.
"I had Eileen as my head coach at Glasgow City. She's a great coach and I think she'll bring a lot to this team. I'm looking forward to working with her here.
"Under Vera I wasn't here a lot, so I don't really know the style of play that was there, but I think we're going in a new direction. It's a new campaign, and I'm just really looking forward to it.
"I feel like everyone in the squad is thinking the same. We're all just doing our best. There's compeition obviously, but we're there for each other It's a team sport, we're all going to support each other in what we do."
Whelan made a big move to Birmingham City from Shelbourne in 2021. It was a challenging period in a few different ways as she left home for the first time to get a taste of a professional environment.
"When I went over, I knew I wasn't going to play much but it was more for the experience for me, to live away from home and play professional football in a different country," Whelan reflects.
"I was lucky to have so many Irish players at Birmingham, but I do think it's helped me to be where I am today. With Glasgow City I've been getting minutes, I've been scoring goals... I think [Birmingham] was really key in my development."
When asked what she missed most in the early days, Whelan smiles: "My mam's cooking! Realising that I had to do that myself and stufff. And paying bills, getting everything sorted... in the blink of an eye you're like, 'what is this?'. This is adulthood.
"Moving [to Birmingham] at the start was probably a bit harder than I would have expected, but having the likes of Jamie Finn there helped me a lot. It made me grow up quick.
"It does transfer on to the pitch. You can see it on the pitch, you grow up and you're more responsible for all the actions you make. You hold yourself to a higher standard, which is really good for you."
She's now a crucial part of a strong Glasgow City side chasing more trophies at home and in Europe. Two weeks ago they beat Whelan's old club Shels and then Lithuanian outfit Gintra to come through the Champions League qualification phase and progress to the play-off round.
"My mam and dad will always try to come over whenever they can," Whelan says.
"They like to choose the games they come to - probably the bigger games against Celtic or Rangers! But they're really proud. I'm the baby, so me moving away is hard for them, but I think they're just really proud of me and I'm grateful to them for everything they've done for me over my career.
"I'm really loving it."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday from 12.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on RTÉ 2fm
