Republic of Ireland defender Aoife Mannion has warned there's more to Poland than star Barcelona striker Ewa Pajor ahead of next week's crunch World Cup qualifiers double-header.
The Girls in Green are in Gdansk on Tuesday evening, then welcome the Poles to the Aviva Stadium the following Saturday.
Having lost their opening two League A Group B games to France and the Netherlands, this window probably represents Ireland's best chance of getting points on the board. And there is a tangible reward for doing so: if they can finish third in the four-team group, Carla Ward's team will - on paper at least - get a kinder draw for the autumn's play-offs.
Poland are ranked 24th in the world, just three places higher than Ireland. But in Pajor, they possess a lethal attacking weapon; a bustling, clinical presence with 70 international goals to her name.
"I'm really looking forward to hopefully setting out our stall with a good performance, please God some points and then coming into that home leg at the Aviva."
"She's obviously a really good player for Barcelona, highly rated," Mannion said.
"We've got Jaz (Mander, performance analyst), one of our new coaches, who's been doing a deep dive on players' individual qualities. And actually on a personal level, sometimes I find it's the attackers that you don't necessarily hear about every day that can catch you off guard.
"So I'd like to think for the big, almost household names, you're so aware that you're looking at everything and you're trying to get an insight, but being a professional and trying to anticipate everything, sometimes it's the lesser known names (that hurt you).
"We're trying to prepare for Pajor and other players, but we're trying to prepare for everyone because you just never know what exactly is going to be the difference in the game."
Getting an awkward away trip out of the way first might help Ireland, who've had to hit the road for part two of their last couple of double-headers (against Belgium back in October, then to the Netherlands in February off the back of an exhausting battle with the French in Tallaght).
"Yeah, it's a massive help to have the second game at home," Mannion admitted.
"I feel like we put our best foot forward when we're at home. Certainly that was the case against Belgium. Then we started the game so well against France and I believe that was partly because it was at home.
"So I'm really looking forward to hopefully setting out our stall with a good performance, please God some points and then coming into that home leg at the Aviva.
"On a personal note, it will be my first time playing that Saturday, 3pm kick-off game. I think the girls played it a couple of years back against Northern Ireland (in September 2023)... and they said it was unreal. Some of the girls still talk about the atmosphere now. I'm really, really looking forward to that."
Mannion has enjoyed a strong campaign in WSL2 with a highly ambitious Newcastle United, but their promotion hopes are hanging by a thread. With two games to play, the Toon are five points off third-placed Crystal Palace, who look nailed on to take the promotion/relegation play-off spot against the bottom-placed WSL side (currently Leicester City).
One of the Magpies' breakout stars this term has been Emily Murphy, who's also been superb for Ireland, showing just why she was so highly regarded as a teenager at Chelsea.
"The first time Em came into camp a couple of years back, I was her roommate, and from there we've just got really close, really friendly," Mannion said.
"She's almost like my little sister. Her performances in the last camp, I believe she got player of the match in both games, it was almost like her 'welcome to the stage' moment.
"Emily's really mature. She's obviously a young player, but in many ways, she's way beyond her years. It's just really nice to watch someone who I think is at the start of their career, to see where they go, to see what they do. She's a massive player for Newcastle and I think she's becoming a really big name for Ireland."
Both Murphy and Mannion will be key figures in a big week for Ireland. Poland held the Dutch to a 2-2 draw in Gdansk back in March; they'll fancy their chances of turning over Ward's side, and won't be daunted by coming to the Aviva. Mannion is braced for two serious tests.
"We've got to take the fight," she stressed.
"We appreciate what two good results could do for us in terms of helping us with our run into World Cup qualification.
"We get that, we understand the pressure and it's our job to try and rise to the occasion."
