Saoirse Noonan to miss Pinatar Cup - but expected to return for qualifier

The Cork native – who recently moved to English Championship outfit Durham from Shelbourne – was a notable omission from the 27-player squad that manager Vera Pauw picked

Saoirse Noonan is expected to recover from a knee injury in time for Ireland’s Women’s World Cup qualifier against top seeds Sweden on April 12.

The Cork native – who recently moved to English Championship outfit Durham from Shelbourne – was a notable omission from the 27-player squad that manager Vera Pauw picked on Friday for next week’s Pinatar Cup.

Ireland are guaranteed three friendlies in Spain, starting against Poland on Wednesday, February 26. They will face Hungary or Russia in the second encounter before completing the window against another of the eight nations.

It is all geared towards the resumption of their competitive campaign in Gothenburg.

Ireland are well placed at the midway point in second place to consolidate runners-up and secure a play-off for next year’s finals in Australia and New Zealand but extracting anything from the Swedes, with five straight wins, is an enormous task.

They meet minnows Georgia in June before tackling the crunch double-header against Finland (home) and Slovakia (away) in September.

It was in the 11-0 November trouncing of Georgia at Tallaght that Noonan notched her first international goal on her second cap. Pauw is just relieved that the injury wasn’t more serious.

“Saoirse feared a ligament injury after overstretching her knee,” explained the veteran Dutch boss.

“I’m so proud that she didn’t rupture her anterior cruciate ligament. That was because of all the work she put in training. All the co-ordination work has protected her, otherwise she would have had an ACL and been out for far longer.” 

One player who will assemble in Murcia feeling fit, well and reinvigorated is recently recruited Manchester United defender Diane Caldwell.

She went straight into the starting team for the 1-1 draw against WSL leaders Arsenal last Saturday and will aim to reassert her status as an Ireland regular against the Swedes.

Caldwell, now 33, has been a first-choice centre-back until September when dislodged by Savannah McCarthy but got the nod last time out against the Georgians.

“We pick the best team to get results in World Cup qualifiers,” Pauw reasoned.

“Sweden had only beaten Georgia 4-0 and 3-0, so we had to take care of the space behind our defence and Diane is better at that. The games against Slovakia and Georgia were completely different and we now have the choice of players to change strategy.” 

Pauw was in Scotland on Wednesday night to watch her former assistant Eileen Gleeson oversee Glasgow City’s 2-0 win against Celtic.

Both Isibeal Atkinson and Tyler Toland were introduced as subs for Celtic but only one of the midfielders made the squad and it had nothing to do with form. The two-year dispute between Pauw and Toland persists.

“Firstly, Tyler didn’t call me so I don’t know if she wants to play,” noted the manager who previously claimed she was harassed by Toland’s father following incidents in camp.

“Secondly, she was on the bench for Celtic yesterday, where she is for their big games.

“If Tyler calls me, she will be on the list once she’s better than others but she has a lot of competition.” 

Pauw admits she’ll wait to see if Liverpool’s Megan Campbell is fit enough to travel this weekend before confirming her involvement.