Nolan keeping Irish focus with plenty of vitamin sea

Sea dips and coffee galore - it's a tried and tested combination that's helping Republic of Ireland defender Hayley Nolan to stay focused and relaxed as the clock ticks down on the World Cup.

Nolan is part of Vera Pauw's 31-player training camp that's currently prepping for Thursday's friendly against Zambia at Tallaght Stadium.

A week after that game, Pauw will reveal her final 23-player squad for the tournament.

It'd be understandable if the atmosphere around the squad was a little fractious with everybody desperate to earn a precious ticket Down Under.

But Kildare native Nolan insists excitement has been the overriding emotion within the group.

"I think we were all eager to get in and see each other and start training," she said afer an open training session in front of 1200 fans at UCD.

"We’ve been off for a good few weeks now. You’re itching to come back into it, especially when you know that you’ve to get ready for a World Cup. For the last six weeks I’ve been training [solo] but I’m just so happy to be back in. I had a programme from Vera and from my club as well. I went out to the States to get some training done."

Nolan endured a tough start to 2022 after having surgery on a dislocated shoulder which sidelined her for seven months.

However she stormed back to play every minute of London City Lionesses' 2022/23 FA Women's Championship campaign as they finished third, just missing out on promotion.

Having tranisitioned from midfield to a central defensive role with impressive ease, Nolan is now looking to build on her solid appearance off the bench against the USA in April.

"It's good to kind of get away and not think about football sometimes."

"This whole season I’m proud of my performances and how I played," she said.

"Off