Katie McCabe will not travel to the USA for the Republic of Ireland's friendlies against the USA at the end of the month, with head coach Carla Ward saying the 29-year-old is "on the verge of burnout".
The Girls in Green fell short in their quest to win automatic promotion from League B of the Nations League on Tuesday despite beating Slovenia 1-0 at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. They needed a victory by four clear goals to pip the Slovenians to top spot and so will head for the promotion/relegation play-offs in October.
Ireland will be pitted against Denmark, Belgium, Iceland or Austria, with the draw scheduled to take place Friday lunchtime.
Ward brings her team to face the world No 1-ranked Americans - managed by her old friend Emma Hayes - on Thursday 26 June (Denver) and Sunday 29 June (Cincinnati).
However McCabe will not be part of travelling party. The captain has endured a gruelling club campaign that climaxed with Arsenal beating Barcelona in Lisbon to win the Champions League. Ward confirmed she'll skip the trip, and other senior figures might also opt out.
"Katie has played an awful lot of minutes for club and country," said Ward.
"She's on the verge of burnout, as are some others. There's going to be conversations.
"It won't just be Katie that won't be travelling. There's probably going to be a number. It's something we spoke about in the press conference the other day. It's a difficult one. I mean, you've seen with Millie Bright at England coming out, mental and physical fatigue is massive.
"I felt it (when manager) at Villa. It's the reason I needed that break. It's a really tough place to be, and I think there's a lot of players close to that. They've played a lot of minutes, so we have to protect them. We have to protect them as people, and we'll support anybody that needs that break."
Ward also revealed she's trying to convince Louise Quinn to come to the States for one last hurrah. The defender - who came on for the last ten minutes in Cork - has definitely played her last international game on Irish soil, and it seems unlikely she'll do a U-turn. However the boss is not giving up hope.
"I don't think she'll be coming to the US," Ward added. "I'm still going to try and convince her. I think it'll be time maybe for the next generation.
"She's been brilliant. Even in team meetings, she sparks conversation where maybe some of the younger ones don't. Her message (in the huddle) at the end was so important, so important in terms of, now it's over to you guys."
Ward was more than pleased with her team's showing on Leeside. Ireland were fluid, hungry and sharp and really should have won by more. It was a display that lifts morale as they build towards that two-legged play-off in the autumn.
"Probably the way I'd put it would be, (it was) a Carla Ward team on the ball and an Irish mentality off the ball," said the head coach.
"That’s what we need to build on, we have to build on. If we want to play in an exciting way going forward, and that’s the way I like my teams to play, we have to be better off the ball. And that was the start of it tonight.
"Now we go to the US to play the best in the world and try to continue that work but there is still a lot of work to do. What it does do is put us in a position to build. And I said to the group. That’s something firstly you can be proud of, secondly that you can build upon and thirdly if we can combine the two, the future is bright."
Five wins out of six Nations League games is a decent return, but there's been bumps along the way for Ireland - not least the 4-0 hammering away to Slovenia that ultimately cost them promotion.
Ward has now challenged her charges to use their victory in Cork as a platform.
"I mean, intensity was through the roof tonight wasn't it?" she added.
"I think there was an attitude and a mentality from the word go. Fifteen shots on goal, which is huge.
"We’ve not struggled to create in this group but certainly maybe struggled to be clinical, we need to be more clinical. But as I said I’m nothing but proud of the group tonight."
