Women's FA Cup offers fresh opportunities for rested Irish

It was a winter of discontent for the Republic of Ireland after the painful Euro 2025 play-off final defeat to Wales and the subsequent departure of Eileen Gleeson as head coach.

It took time for the dust to fully settle on the emotional gut punch of that loss at Aviva Stadium.

However the slew of Irish players based in England got a welcome rest over Christmas as the Women's Super League and Championship paused for a mid-season break.

Now they're back, with the weekend's FA Cup fourth-round games jammed with Irish angles and interest.

Familiar names will look to shake off some ring rust, while others will be attempting to make an impact in new surroundings.

One name to keep an eye on is the highly promising Lia O'Leary who completed her expected switch to Bristol City from Shamrock Rovers on Tuesday. The Ireland Under-19s captain got a few training sessions under her belt this week and could be in line for a dream debut against Arsenal at Meadow Park on Sunday lunchtime (live on the Women's FA Cup YouTube channel).

O'Leary has been welcomed to her new club by Chloe Mustaki, who returned from a lengthy injury absence in October and will be key to the Robins' hopes of pulling off what would be a major upset.

Arsenal's carousel of stars are likely to be full of beans though. Katie McCabe took the opportunity to get some sun on her bones with a festive trip to Australia and, re-energised, will be hoping to drive the Gunners' charge for domestic and European glory in 2025.

Tara O'Hanlon, mooted by many to be a potential successor to McCabe on Ireland's left-hand side, appears to be edging closer to a long-awaited first appearance for Manchester City.

The gifted 19-year-old has been plagued by injuries since moving to England from