Jamie Finn's World Cup dream on the brink of coming true, but star is well aware of the task ahead 

If Ireland were able to stifle Sweden in a 1-1 draw and topple Finland on the road during the main qualifiers, performing a job on either Austria or Scotland is within their gift.

DREAM: Jamie Finn during a Republic of Ireland Women media day at Castleknock Hotel in Dublin. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

A dearth of top-flight players – or at least regulars operating at that level – isn’t a problem for Irish football confined to the men’s team.

The squeeze amid global competition to feature in the increasingly rich English Super League manifests in an Irish hue at Championship level, both male and female.

Hence when Vera Pauw lost four of her dwindling WSL presence to injury for the most important game in the team’s history – next Tuesday’s World Cup playoff – it was only natural for pessimism to cloud the outcome.

With injury robbing Ruesha Littlejohn, Megan Connolly, Leanne Kiernan and Jess Ziu of involvement, it leaves just four outfield players – Liverpool duo Niamh Fahey and Megan Campbell along with Katie McCabe and Diane Caldwell – arriving into camp with a league start to show so far this season.

Jamie Finn doesn’t feel the necessity to be downbeat.

Her Birmingham City side swapped places with Liverpool in the second tier and their condition is critical to the Irish cause.

Finn is among a quartet of Blues in the Irish squad and all four have been active in their bid to accomplish an immediate return to the top table.

It won’t be straightforward in a division comprised for the first time entirely of full-time clubs. Seven points from their opening four games testifies to that.

Investment in strengthening the pyramid had begun before the summer Euros - with a government pledge of £1m for the third and fourth divisions - but England’s success on home soil has been a boon across the board.

Newcastle United, for example, recently employed Becky Langley as full-time manager, armed with the blueprint and budget to lift the Magpies from the fourth tier to compete with the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal.

“You can see the spiral effect already,” noted Finn, the 24-year-old Dubliner, comfortable at right wing-back or in midfield.

“The crowds have increased in both the WSL and our division. They were decent but have increased this season. Playing home games at the men's stadiums is a plus too.

“You want that competitiveness from teams being in a professional environment. Back home with Shelbourne, I was combining football with being a personal trainer back home. Now, it’s full focus is on my career, with days off to rest and recover. You have to adapt but it’s been good for me so far.” 

And Ireland too. Moving cross-channel 14 months ago cemented Finn’s status as a regular of the Pauw era.

A third yellow card of the campaign in the playoff-clinching win over Finland last month ruled her out of the concluding qualifier in Slovakia, a game Ireland won to earn a bye through the playoff series.

Finn and her colleagues can sit back at their Castleknock Hotel base tonight (Thurs) studying potential opponents, Scotland and Austria, in their battle for the right to meet them.

While Finn maintained professional discipline by declining to single out a favoured nation, what she witnessed of Hampden Park for the recent men’s international between the male Celtic cousins sated the appetite for the big occasion.

“I was watching that game and the atmosphere looked amazing,” she says, a smile beaming across her face. “They were saying it was like a concert.

“Growing up, I always imagined playing at a World Cup for my country. We'll see if it's in Glasgow or Austria but we need to control what we can control and that's ourselves.” 

If Ireland were able to stifle Sweden in a 1-1 draw and topple Finland on the road during the main qualifiers, performing a job on either of these possibilities is within their gift.

They won’t start analysing their opposition until Friday morning when Pauw’s assistant Tom Elmes returns from Hampden with his Ipad packed with pointers.

“We’ve adapted well to playing at the bigger stadiums with bigger crowds,” Finn stressed.

“I think we’ve developed our game going away from home as well.” Conquering another away mission would open a new frontier for this team on the home front too.