Niamh Fahey eyes bright horizon after tough road to recovery

New Liverpool contract agreed, injury concerns abated and a dream World Cup appearance coming into focus - it's been a good few weeks for Niamh Fahey.

The Galway centre-half suffered a calf injury last January that effectively ended her season.

She missed the Republic of Ireland's friendly games against China and the USA but is back in the fold now ahead of Thursday's visit of Zambia to Tallaght Stadium, having recently penned a contract extension with the Merseysiders.

Things are looking up again after a bleak winter and spring.

"It was tough, more mentally obviously than physically, just given that it was coming in the run-up to the end of the season," Fahey said.

"It was a calf tear. It was misdiagnosed. Initially I thought it was a grade one, which is only like one to three weeks, but it ended up not healing and then got it rescanned and it was actually a significant grade two.

"That obviously delayed [my progress] and I was probably doing stuff too early that I shouldn't have been doing. It ended up being a much longer injury than first diagnosed, which was a bit mentally frustrating, obviously.

"Once I got the games under me, I felt a lot more confident as well and my body feels good now. Maybe it's one of those where the rest probably came at a good time. Luckily enough, I'm fighting fit now and raring to go."

It helped to have a familiar face beside her on the lonely road to recovery. Leanne Kiernan spent most of the season sidelined with an ankle problem, the pair leaning on each other through some difficult times.

"Me and Leanne were gym buddies there for a while so we were keeping each other motivated," Fahey added.

"Obviously Leanne's had a tough year as well, she was longer than me, but our rehab coincided towards the