Republic of Ireland newcomer Mel Filis could be the player who could give Denise O'Sullivan more freedom to influence the game in an attacking sense, according to Shelbourne midfielder and former international Rachel Graham.
Charlton Athletic midfielder Filis was the only brand new face in the Girls in Green squad named by new manager Carla Ward last week and has been billed as a front-footed and high energy central operator.
Only time will tell whether Filis makes her debut in Friday's UEFA Women's Nations League opener against Turkey at Tallaght Stadium but her inclusion has intrigued Graham, including how she could impact the role of playmaker O'Sullivan who has sometimes had to play in deeper roles than would be ideal over the years.
"(Filis) plays for Charlton, who are currently fourth in the Championship, so she's at a similar level to a lot of players we do have within the squad, so you can imagine she can find her feet pretty quickly," Graham told this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast.
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
"(Ward) has mentioned that she is really hard-working and stuff, but I think I'd say that about all the Ireland players as well to be fair - I don't think that's something that sets her apart completely from all of our other players.
"I think she's very willing to do a lot of running, the dirty side of the game where she'll close players down and be aggressive against players, maybe try and win the ball back.
"But I don't think she's going to be a really creative midfielder for us, that we get into the final third and she can create opportunities for us. She's not that type of player.
"But I think the only thing with her is I find Denise can sometimes get caught doing that really defensive role and to be fair, Denise is brilliant at it, I'm not knocking that.
"But I just think Denise is so good and you have to be really good to play in the final third, you have to be really good under pressure and Denise is that, and I just feel that sometimes we lose out on that with her playing a more deeper, defensive role.
"So if it is Mel to come in and take that position, it could free Denise up a little bit higher."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Turkey in the UEFA Women's Nations League on Friday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live commentary with 2fm’s Game On
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Watch Real Madrid v Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Digital highlights of games available on RTÉ Sport YouTube and RTÉ.ie and RTÉ News app
