Niamh Fahey: Ireland the 'strongest' we've ever been

Vera Pauw has given the Republic of Ireland the belief that they can finally qualify for a major tournament, according to defender Niamh Fahey.

The Girls in Green have three matches left in their World Cup qualifying campaign, starting in Gori on Monday, and a meeting with Georgia.

Fahey, who now has surpassed 100 caps for her country, played in the last Irish team to reach a play-off back in 2008 when they lost out to Iceland.

"We haven't had any outside person come in, but Vera is to the forefront of making sure we're mentally ready for the challenge," she says when asked about the psychology of missing out so often.

"She does work on the mindset and the psyche of the players being ready, so there's no need for an outside influence.

"The big thing is confidence really, belief. Maybe that's something we've lacked in the past; not having that real belief that we were going to get over the line.

"Having that confidence to say that we're Irish but we can also play, we're good footballers. We can do this without harking back to the past, the nearly moments."

Seven points from their remaining three games would be enough to secure a play-off place for Pauw's side, while three wins might be enough to see them skip a round of October's play-off series.

Looking at the side which beat The Philippines last week nine are playing for clubs outside of Ireland, while one of those starters from the SSE Airtricity WNL - Jess Ziu - is set to join West Ham shortly.

15 years into her Ireland career, Fahey adds that this is the most impressive group of players that she has played with.

"If you look historically at the squads we've had, and you're looking at players in a full-time environment, this is the strongest we've ever been.

"The level that