This coming fortnight was shaping up to be a momentous one for Bohemians midfielder Aoibhe Brennan.
Last Monday, the 18-year-old had earned her maiden call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifying double-header against Poland.
She would have been coming into the camp with Girls in Green manager Carla Ward's lavish praise ringing in her ears.
And on top of that, the Meath native was the only player based in the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division to attain a call-up.
Unfortunately, injury has now thrown a spanner in the works and Brennan won't be linking up with the Irish senior squad for the trip to Gdansk next Tuesday and the subsequent home game with the Poles at Aviva Stadium.
Bohs have confirmed that an ankle injury has put paid to her hopes in the short-term and Brennan is among a trio of players who have had to withdraw from the original 24-player selection.
But it's only a small bump in the road in the grand scheme of things, according to Shelbourne midfielder Rachel Graham, who sees a very bright future ahead for the deep-lying midfielder.
"She's someone with huge potential. For her to get a call-up, it's so exciting, so brilliant and I think Carla's definitely right in pinpointing her as someone who's there for the future and I do think she's right as well in terms of she's someone who still has to grow and develop a lot," she told the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.
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"I do think she is going to go professional so it's just about getting that next step up. I'd say she's still quite a small, petite kind of player so for her to go and build herself up, (she can) look at Denise (O'Sullivan), who is probably a similar build and (see) what does she do in the gym and what does she do to prep for a game.
"Definitely she's somebody with a huge future ahead of her."
Graham, who scored directly from a corner for Shels in their All-Island Cup clash against Waterford on Saturday, is particularly impressed by a maturity to Brennan's game that belies her age.
"She has both sides of her game, Aoibhe Brennan. She can attack, she's really creative, clever on the ball, and as Carla said, does the simple things well," said the four-time Ireland cap.
"People often forget it's not easy to do the simple things well sometimes, but that's probably 90% of her game and she has to be able to do it well.
"She's really mature in that sense where she doesn't try anything weird or wonderful. It's the basics, just get them right and then she does have a bit of flair where she can create a goal."
Along with Jessie Stapleton, midfielder Lily Agg is the other player forced to pull out of the squad and in her case it is a particularly bitter blow.
The 32-year-old had only just returned from a 15-month absence following an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury to win back her place in the squad.
Unfortunately, the Durham player now faces another lengthy lay-off after rupturing her Achilles heel.
Agg opened up about her sense of anguish in a social media post at the weekend.
"Two of the worst injuries you can have," Agg wrote. "I keep asking myself what I ever did to deserve this? Why me? Why now?
"People close to me keep saying I'll come back stronger again. If I’m being honest, right now I genuinely don’t know if I will come back at all.
"I’ll be another year older. I’m 32 now, out of contract in June, with an ACL and an achilles rupture behind me in the last two years.
"I’m not naive. The game is changing, and I know I’ll be a risk many won’t want to take a chance on.
"My heart is broken and my head hurts."
Agg's Ireland team-mates have rallied around her on social media and Graham said that support would be important as the 2023 World Cup squad member faces into an uncertain future.
"My heart really goes out to her having to go through that," she said. "If you talk to any player who has gone through an ACL, they say it's one of the toughest things you can ever go through.
"So to come through it and then to get another long-term injury is obviously really tough for her.
"She probably doesn't have age on her side either. She's 32 now and will be 33 when she comes back from this injury and it's probably hard to get a professional contract at 33 with those two bad injuries behind you.
"Hopefully that's not the case. But I'm sure for her it's a real down in the dumps time for her. But my heart did go out to her."
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