D-Day on horizon for Vera Pauw's World Cup hopefuls

Vera Pauw will name her 23-player Republic of Ireland World Cup squad on 29 June, with the race to make the plane to Australia entering a nervy climax.

The Girls in Green are facing into a busy schedule as they finetune preparations for a first ever appearance at the finals.

Ireland play Zambia in a friendly at Tallaght Stadium on 22 June and then host France at the same venue on 6 July before heading to Oz, where they will take on Colombia in a behind-closed-doors clash on 14 July, six days before their tournament opener against co-hosts Australia in Sydney.

As Pauw gets ready to finalise her squad, she has a few headaches to contend with.

Earlier this week Manchester United revealed that defender Aoife Mannion - so impressive since coming into the fold in February - has suffered a "small tweak" to her medial collateral ligament.

United are hopeful she will require no more than a few weeks' recovery, but any further setback could prove extremely costly.

Mannion has endured dreadful injury misfortune in the past, her career being impacted by two serious ACL injuries in 2021 and 2022.

Her absence would be a huge blow, although Pauw can take comfort from the recent returns of a couple of strong centre-halves.

Niamh Fahey featured for Liverpool last weekend having been out since February while Savannah McCarthy is back playing again with Shamrock Rovers following a horrendous knee injury over a year ago.

Elsewhere left-back Megan Campbell’s Liverpool contract has expired and she will depart the Merseyside club in the summer. Campbell missed Ireland’s March double-header against the USA due to personal reasons and last featured for the Reds in a goalless draw with West Ham on 2 April.

Others will be on the lookout for new clubs in the