Fahey ruled out but Pauw confident Irish will shine

Experienced Republic of Ireland defender Niamh Fahey is out of Thursday night's crucial World Cup qualifier against Finland at Tallaght Stadium due to a groin injury.

Vera Pauw confirmed the Liverpool centre-half will not be fit for the sold-out clash, but the manager has not ruled Fahey out of Tuesday's trip to Slovakia.

Ireland can seal a place in the play-offs if they beat the Finns, and although Fahey’s absence is a blow, Pauw is confident she has capable replacements within her squad.

"Niamh won't make tomorrow. We had a scan, and on the basis of the scan we are sitting down tonight with the medical team o see if she can make Slovakia," she said.

"It's not a severe injury but she's not ready. We have a broad squad and I think we've found a very good solution. I'm not going to tell you!"

The likes of Diane Caldwell, Megan Campbell and Harriet Scott would all be in the frame to fill the void.

Pauw was playing her cards close to her chest but she is embracing a Tallaght "final" against a Finnish side that have to win to keep their own play-off hopes alive.

"This is not a game to experiment but you need to find solutions, so you will see tomorrow how are we going to do it," Pauw added.

"Finland is the crucial game. That's our final and we'll take that as a final in itself. After tomorrow we'll know where we stand.

"You could qualify (via the play-offs) by playing only one game, and there is a situation where you'd need four (play-off) games to qualify. That's a bit strange but that's what we have to deal with.

"We see the magnitude of this game but we will approach it in exactly the same way because in itself this game comes at the end of the campaign. If it had been at the start of the campaign we'd have been sitting here