Republic of Ireland boss Carla Ward has talked up the qualities of Athlone Town striker Kelly Brady, but confirmed the 23-year-old won't be squeezing her way into the picture for the Nations League promotion/relegation play-off against Belgium.
Ward was at Tallaght Stadium on Sunday to watch former Ireland Under-19 international Brady rattle home a hat-trick against Bohemians in the Sports Direct FAI Cup final.
The US-born attacker has been invited in to train with the Girls in Green this week along with Shamrock Rovers defender Maria Reynolds, but this will merely be an audition for Brady, who'll have to be patient if she's to get a full call-up.
"I think Kelly's been impressive all season," said Ward ahead of Friday's first leg against the Belgians at Aviva Stadium.
"She just gives you something a little bit different. I think her athleticism is probably different to maybe some of the other League of Ireland players that we've looked at.
"Her movement in the box is unbelievable. I mean, you look at the first and the second goal (against Bohs)... just her movement to get across players, and she's got a leap a lot of forwards would love.
"But like I said, we've spoken about it a lot, haven't we, around the difference between League of Ireland part-time football into full-time. The biggest gap is probably that athleticism and the physical side of it. So it'll be a really good chance to have a look at her this week for sure."
Asked if Brady had any chance of forcing her way into the matchday squad, Ward replied: "She is just a training player. Obviously, we've got (to pick) 23 from 24. I would suggest it would take maybe somebody coming out at this point.
"If you'd have a look at her competition in that No 9 spot, we're quite heavy loaded there. But I think this initially is to have a really good look at her and for her to obviously have a look at a full-time set-up as well."
Ward also offered an update on the fitness of Denise O'Sullivan, who came off the bench for North Carolina Courage against Bay FC on Saturday. It was the Cork woman's first appearance since she suffered a knee injury in August.
"I've been on quite a lot with the medical team," said Ward. "I've been on to Denise constantly, seeing where she's at. We were told – it was probably a couple of months ago – we were told she was out. And I don't settle for that until the last minute.
"So you always keep the door open. To have her back in is huge because she's not just on the pitch, off the pitch she's phenomenal. On the pitch I would argue she is one of the best players I've ever worked with. And what I mean by that is as a pro, as everything she does, she is just... to lose Denise would be catastrophic. She's unbelievable for us.
"I can't tell you how happy I am that she's back in with us."
The Belgians are ranked 20th in the world, seven places above Ireland, and will pose a stiff challenge for an Irish side that's blown hot and cold under Ward this year.
However, the head coach is quietly confident her team can cause problems.
"They've got the ability to be very, very, very good," Ward added. "But they've got flaws in their system. I think they were one of the best teams (at last summer's Euros) on transition, offensive transitions. But then I think they were one of the teams that can be exploited in defensive transitions.
"We have to be aware because they've got a lot of quality. But I also think that they'll probably be saying something similar about us because I think there's areas that we can really hurt them."
Watch Republic of Ireland v Belgium in the UEFA Women's Nations League play-offs on Friday from 6.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to live radio commentary on an extended Game On with 2fm.
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