As she closes in on a century of appearances for the Girls in Green, Republic of Ireland midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn is dreaming of capping a wonderful career at the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
The 93-cap international has had a somewhat tumultuous season which began with the end of her 18-month stint at London City Lionesses.
The Scottish-born player signed with Women's League Of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers - to much fanfare - in mid-March. She would stay with the Tallaght outfit for barely three months before moving on again.
Littlejohn then joined with her third club of the calendar year, Crystal Palace, in September. If she was hoping to see out the winter in low-key fashion, it didn't quite turn out that way when a straight red card for violent conduct resulted in a five-match Women's Super League 2 ban following a clash with Leicester's Hannah Cain in November.
Littlejohn, to her credit, held her hands up in the wake of the unsavoury incident - which lit something of a social media fire. Her international manager, Carla Ward - with whom she goes back a long way - jumped to her player's defence, branding some of the commentary around her sending off as 'disgraceful'.
Littlejohn's stint at Rovers raised a few eyebrows - mostly for it's brevity. What was considered something of a coup for the club didn't quite materialise on the pitch and the midfielder's domestic career came and went with hardly enough time for her to get her feet under the Tallaght Stadium desk.
In an interview this week with Marie Crowe for RTÉ Radio One's 'Inside Sport' show, Littlejohn hinted at a slight frustration with the state of play in the domestic game and had some suggestions on how to develop the women's product quicker in this country. As far as Littlejohn is concerned, improvement on the pitch has to begin with the players.
"The set-up in place, maybe training more nights and stuff like that. But I get it, it comes back to players having to want to do it - because you're probably not getting paid right now," she said on Inside Sport.
"So it takes a lot of time and commitment, but I think, especially for the young players coming through, it's something that they have to do.
"If you want to become professional or you want to play for Ireland and improve the national team, you're going to have to play for free right now. Maybe that's not right, but I think when you look at the FAI and how much debt we are in, that's the way it's got to be.
"For me, I look and I go, there's so much potential. There are a lot of young players coming through that are very good."
One obvious option to help younger players in the women's game develop at a quicker pace is to mix male and female training sessions where possible and when appropriate. Littlejohn is keen to see this practice continue for the sake of the women's game.
"Spending time playing with the boys is massive and I hope clubs don't stop that because I know they're going to want players at training three or four nights out the week, and sometimes maybe the level's not quite there," she said. "So I feel like you have to then mix it in and play with the boys just to keep developing it. But there's talent there.
"The thing that frustrates me is, there is talent there, so we have to look after it and encourage it and do all we can, but then there's got to be a bit of responsibility on the players now going, 'OK, I'm going to do more. I'm going to work on my football. I'm going to look after my nutrition and ask the right questions'.
"I stand by it, but I'm just like, play with the boys as long as you can until you can't. Just make sure you're playing with the boys."
As that magical 100 number creeps closer - slowly but surely - the honour of reaching that mark for her country is not lost on a now 35-year-old Littlejohn. Unused last time out in the friendly against Hungary, she joked that she'll need to lean on Ward to make sure she reaches her goal.
"I was speaking about that recently and right now it's almost 'Will I get there?' I don't know. It's like you're so close yet so far, is it 92? 93. Yeah. I'm a few away," she said.
"I need to speak to Carla, actually, she's in my bad books 'cause she didn't put me on the last camp. I'm a cap down again, so I am not speaking to her right now!
"If I get it, it'll be great. If I don't get it, it's not the end of the world, but it's definitely a goal of mine still.
"The World Cup would be the absolute wild card if that happens, but I guess we all have to dream. You've got to have big, crazy dreams too. So that's definitely mine right now. The hundred [caps], fingers crossed that can happen. And then if Brazil would happen again, that's like unreal."
Listen to Ruesha Littlejohn's full interview with Marie Crowe for RTÉ Radio One's 'Inside Sport' at the top of this article.
