Niamh Fahey's absence from the Republic of Ireland's daunting Euro 2025 qualifying group openers against France and England is a blow but former international Méabh De Búrca is tipping newcomer Anna Patten to make an instant impact.
Experienced Liverpool centre-back Fahey had been named in Eileen Gleeson's squad for this Friday night's trip to Metz and next Tuesday's clash against the English at the Aviva Stadium, both of which are live across RTÉ platforms (details below).
While she was definitely going to miss the French game, there had been faint hope that she could help bolster the back line four days later against the reigning European champions and World Cup runners-up.
However, Fahey was forced to withdraw from the entire window on Tuesday morning due to the calf injury. The fortunate aspect from the Irish point of view is that the defensive sector is the one in which there is most depth with Louise Quinn, Diane Caldwell, Aoife Mannion and Caitlin Hayes primed to battle for the three central defensive berths on Friday.
And now former England youth international Patten can be added to the mix after receiving international clearance this week from FIFA.
Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, De Búrca said the Aston Villa defender was a player that could hit the ground running for Ireland and bring qualities on and off the ball if called upon.
"It's probably the position we're most stacked in really, centre-halves, and I can imagine we're going to play three centre-backs against France," said the Galway native.
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"I can't see (Gleeson) going back to the back four, so it is important to have the numbers there.
"Personally for Niamh, it's probably very disappointing because she obviously missed the first game in the Aviva (against Northern Ireland last September) and she would've liked to have played England in the Aviva considering we haven't played them in our lifetime. It's 37 years since we've had a chance to have a go at England.
"So it's disappointing personally for her but I can see a lot of quality in that position and I'm really looking forward to see if Anna does get on because she's started in all 18 games in the WSL and a lot of our other players have had to go down to the Championship to get game-time, so I think she'll be quality if we get to see her."
Patten became eligible for Ireland through her grandparents and having come through the ranks at perennial Women's Super League contenders Arsenal, she has been at fellow top flight side Aston Villa since last summer.
De Búrca likened her potential impact to that of the aforementioned Hayes who impressed immediately after being integrated Irish squad last year.
"She's very composed. She's able to win the ball but I think she'll be able to possess out from the back as well and obviously going forward that's a way we'll want to play," she said.
"We did it against the lesser teams in the Nations League but when we do get the ball against the likes of France on Friday, we'll have to try and possess it as well and not just clear it at every opportunity, so I think she could feature in that but Caitlin Hayes, she's similar in that her diagonal balls particularly her distribution out from the back is really impressive so those kind of balls might be able to help us get out and launch counter-attacks against the likes of France."
Watch France v Republic of Ireland in Euro 2025 qualifying on Friday from 7.35pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on 2fm's Game On
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