The Republic of Ireland's Emily Murphy believes that her side are heading in the right direction, even if the results in the opening two games of the World Cup qualifying campaign don't reflect that.
Ireland went down 2-1 away to the Netherlands tonight, just days after their were beaten by France on the same scoreline in Tallaght Stadium.
Both France and the Netherlands are teams that would be considered among the top tier in world football and in both games Ireland had their chances to force a draw.
Katie McCabe's penalty five minutes into the second period looked like it might earn Ireland their first point of the campaign after Lineth Beerensteyn put the Dutch ahead in the first half.
However Beerensteyn took advantage of some lax goalkeeping and forced home a winner eight minutes from time to leave Ireland empty handed.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport afterwards, Murphy insisted that there were positives to take from both games, even if her side have yet to put aa point on the board.
"We had a turnaround of, what, four days and we put two of the best countries to the test and Katie [McCabe] said it well at the end - we had a team like the Netherlands time wasting in a game against us, which we've got to take pride from.
"But yeah, obviously we wanted to come away with the three points.
"I think there are things we've got to go back and look at and just ultimately rest and recharge, ready to go again for the next window. I think you're, I see you as a forward, but in both games you switched towards the end to midfield and you were really effective."
Up next for Ireland is a crucial double header with Poland which will go a long way to deciding where the Girls in Green finish in the group.
Carla Ward's side take on the Poles home and away in April with both sides realistically looking to avoid finishing bottom in the group.
Murphy insists those two games are where Ireland's focus needs to be and she believes that there are positives to take from their two opening games.
"I think we should take massive pride out of these two performances and push to go again, come in the next window," she said.
"I'm very proud of everyone on the pitch. The training, the two weeks we've nearly had together. I think it can be hard going away for so long with your national team but it's such a pleasure with these girls and to share the pitch with a lot of them is a pleasure"
Player of the match Emily Murphy on a night of "frustration" but also "pride" as Ireland lost out to the Netherlands #rtesport #COYGIG @FAIWomen @FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/L8ZdbxDBdN
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 7, 2026
