Abbie Larkin keeping feet on the ground and eyes on the prize

It's been quite a journey for Abbie Larkin, the fleet-footed winger from Ringsend who breezed onto the world stage with such carefree abandon 15 months ago.

Larkin’s stock rocketed after her appearance off the bench against Australia in the opening game of last year’s World Cup. She was just 17 then, playing at Shamrock Rovers, brashly unfazed in the cauldron of the Accor Stadium which housed over 75,000 fans that night.

Larkin jinked and danced, the decibel levels among the Irish supporters going up a few levels whenever she had the ball at her feet. A star was born.

She featured in all three of Ireland’s group games and came home with her reputation significantly enhanced. A move across the water was inevitable. The following September she went to Glasgow City scoring nine times in 16 games before making a surprise switch to Crystal Palace in January of this year, helping the Eagles to promotion from the Championship.

But it’s curious that her international progress has stalled somewhat. Larkin only featured once in the six Euro 2025 qualifiers, coming off the bench 57 minutes into the 1-0 loss to Sweden in Stockholm.

Competition is intense in Eileen Gleeson’s squad, but injuries may open the door for Larkin to remind us what she’s capable of in Friday evening’s Euro 2025 play-off semi-final against Georgia (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 4.30pm).

"To be honest, I don’t really let pressure get to me," said Larkin from the team base in Tbilisi.

"I’m just going to focus on me. I’ve got my family and friends to support me. It’s just about enjoying it, I don’t want to lose the enjoyment of it because if I do that then I’m not going to play my best football. You’ve got to keep that enjoyment."

"You are always going to miss your