Republic of Ireland boss Carla Ward said it's "very unlikely" Denise O'Sullivan and Megan Campbell will be available to face the USA in Cincinnati on Sunday after watching her team fall to a 4-0 loss against the world's No 1-ranked side.
Avery Patterson, Sam Coffey, Rose Lavelle and Alyssa Thompson all found the net in a very comfortable American victory, as the Girls in Green wilted in tough conditions at high altitude.
The USA have rested some big names for this friendly double-header but are still able to call upon a cluster of elite talent.
Ireland were without O'Sullivan, Campbell, Aoife Mannion, Katie McCabe, Heather Payne and Leanne Kiernan. They badly missed that experience and quality.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue, Ward said it's "very unlikely" O'Sullivan and Campbell - two late withdrawals who are in camp - will recover for Sunday's rematch, while praising her players' efforts at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
"Let's be honest, we've faced the best team in the world, and we knew that," she said.
"We've come and played against a group of players that are all in season, fit. We know where we're at, we're out of season, but it's not just that. They're unbelievable quality, they really are.
"I was just saying to the girls, we're going to learn more out of tonight than we will have in all our Nations League games. And that's what this is about.
"Being really honest, Erin Healy was only (able for) 15 minutes, Ellen Molloy can't do more than ten, Izzy (Atkinson) was on 15, Ruesha (Littlejohn) was on 45. We were very restricted with what we could put out and the changes we could make.
"Look, we've done what we could have done with what we had available."
Expanding on the conditions, Ward said: "It's tough, it's really tough. The altitude, you can feel it in your chest, you can feel it everywhere. I take my hat off to the group. We asked them to leave everything out there, they've left everything out there.
"There has to be some optimism given the state of what we've come into, and who we're playing against, and all the contributing factors. They've done pretty well considering."
USA manager Emma Hayes only picked NWSL-based players with the exception of Chelsea's Naomi Girma, but they were still loaded with class. Ward accepted Sunday will be another very tough challenge.
"We talk about a heavy defeat, this is the USA," she added.
"Look at their squad tonight, we're talking about world-class players. They'd a one million pound player out there (Girma), 150-cap players they're bringing on to the pitch.
"Sunday is going to be difficult. Ruesha's come off with her achilles. We've got some other questions (around players) that we knew coming in to tonight.
"It's not going to be easy, but what we have to do is keep taking the positives, have a look at tonight, we have to dig deep in to the performance to see what we can change and tweak, and being honest, see who we have fit and available."
