Emily Whelan hoping to create Glasgow spark with Larkin

Republic of Ireland striker Emily Whelan is hoping to kindle an attacking spark with new Glasgow City clubmate Abbie Larkin that catches fire on the international stage.

Whelan has been largely overlooked for Ireland in recent years, with former boss Vera Pauw favouring a formation that leaned on a hard-running lone attacker.

The 21-year-old slipped behind the likes of Heather Payne, Kyra Carusa, Amber Barrett and, more recently, Marissa Sheva in the pecking order, but interim boss Eileen Gleeson has brought Whelan back into the fold for the UEFA Nations League games with Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday and Hungary in Budapest on Tuesday.

Gleeson managed Whelan at Glasgow for a year so knows exactly what the Dubliner brings to the table: a strong, clever goalscorer, she helped Glasgow City to the Scottish Premier League title last season.

Talented winger Larkin completed a move there from Shamrock Rovers earlier this month, and Whelan believes they have the attributes to feed off each other.

"I think Abbie is going to be a great asset to our team," she says.

"She's going to bring great depth, she's a great player. I'm really excited to see her come over and see what she can do.

"Creating relationships at club level and bringing them into international level is always important and good to have. It'll be exciting to see what relationships we create with Abbie and bring it in here [to Ireland camp]."

Whelan admits she was frustrated not to have played a bigger role in Ireland's World Cup journey.

She's been around the senior setup since 2018 but only has seven caps to her name, so this window represents a big opportunity for the Balbriggan native to really stake a claim.

"Not getting in was tough, but I was just