Republic of Ireland interim boss Eileen Gleeson said she's committed to blooding young players for the remainder of her reign after overseeing another comprehensive UEFA Nations League victory on Friday evening.
The Girls in Green swatted Albania aside 5-1 in Tallaght, with Kaie McCabe netting a hat-trick and Kyra Carusa chipping in with a brace.
Gleeson started 18-year-old Abbie Larkin and Izzy Atkinson - four years her senior - on the flanks while Peamount United's Erin McLaughlin, 20, came off the bench.
The flush of youth meant Heather Payne, Lucy Quinn and Amber Barrett didn't make the matchday 23, and the intense competition for places becomes even more apparanet when you look at the players who aren't in this month's squad at all: Niamh Fahey, Aoife Mannion, Marissa Sheva, Ruesha Littlejohn, Savannah McCarthy, Claire Walsh, Tara O'Hanlon, Jess Ziu and Leanne Kiernan.
However Gleeson stressed the importance of blooding fresh talent as she looks to leave the squad in rude health once she passes on the reins to Vera Pauw's permanent successor, whoever that may be.
"It was just all football decisions.... looking after the players," she said when asked about the senior players who were left out of the 23 to face Albania.
"We have a game on Tuesday as well so these are all factors that go into these decisions. We really want to be able to transition young players through and that's what we did tonight. Abbie, Izzy, getting Erin on, and we're happy with that.
"We want to give these young players opportunities to express themselves.
"This is the nature of football and the nature of life. We all get old, so you have to plan for that transition.
"These young players are coming through. The only way to give them experience is to give them minutes. I think they're holding their own. If you make a mistake it's not a big deal, you just go again. That's what the girls are doing now for each other so it's really positive for the staff to see."
"We don't want to let the ball slip and get complacent around the Nations League and the importance of it."
Pushed on whether some of the more established names might come back into the fray for Tuesday's return fixture in Albania, where a victory could see Ireland win the group with two games to spare, Gleeson added: "We'll use the squad that we have and we'll see what's the best fit for Tuesday.
"We've obviously got players who've played full games tonight and players who've played different minutes so we'll just reassess once we look back on this game and then go again Tuesday."
Overall it's been a fine couple of months for the Girls in Green.
Gleeson has proven to be a safe pair of hands after Pauw's turbulent departure, leading the side to three wins from three in League B Group 1.
She's also embraced a more expansive style that's allowed McCabe to play higher up the pitch. Nine points from nine, 12 goals scored and just one conceded is a more than decent return.
"I'm happy," beamed Gleeson. "We all agreed that we could have been much better in the first half but with the second-half performance the girls really showed how well they can play.
"I think the decision around where to play the ball changed so we were working on playing around [them]. We talked about finding space and I think the girls had a much better speed of play with the ball and found better spaces.
"Overall it was a good performance and a great three points."
If Ireland do win their group they'll be promoted to League A and head for the spring's Euro 2025 qualifiers knowing they will be guaranteed a place in the play-offs at the worst.
It's a good place to be, with Gleeson concluding: "We keep driving the message, it's a really important step towards qualifying for Euro 2025 so we don't want to let the ball slip and get complacent around the Nations League and the importance of it.
"We need to drive that message. This is another step forward, and Tuesday is another step forward."
