McCabe insists Ireland will embrace new expectations 

HOME COMFORTS: Katie McCabe poses for a portrait after a Republic of Ireland women press conference at the Aviva Stadium. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Katie McCabe insists her Ireland team can handle the pressure that comes with breaking their major tournament drought when they embark upon their ‘showcase’ on Saturday.

Ireland welcome neighbours Northern Ireland to the Aviva Stadium (1pm) for the first part of a six-game Nations League campaign they’re tipped to reign supreme in.

That tag stems from reaching the World Cup in the summer and their elevated standing in the FIFA rankings compared to the North, Hungary and Albania.

Arguably the degree of expectation has ramped up since the vast majority of the squad called for manager Vera Pauw to be replaced during a review exercise the FAI initiated following their odyssey in Australia.

Diane Caldwell’s blistering attack on the Dutchwoman at the start of the week has polarised opinion within a public who held Pauw as a hero for her integral part in the unprecedented feat.

Familiar face Eileen Gleeson – a former assistant of Pauw’s and manager of Peamount and UCD Waves at home – is in caretaker charge until her employers source a permanent successor.

Unlike the trip Down Under, when Ireland faced co-hosts Australia and Olympic champions Canada as well as African powerhouse Nigeria, Ireland are favourites to sweep to the top of this pool.

A crowd of 38,000 for the first-ever women’s international at the national stadium is forecasted by the FAI.

Winning the group would facilitate progression to League A for next year’s Euro qualifiers, a smoother path to a potential first qualification.

“Look, there is going to be expectation on us now,” said McCabe, who will win her 77th cap at the Aviva.

“We are a team that has qualified for our first-ever major tournament.

“With that, there are more eyes on us, more people watching us, more opinions on us.

“We understand that but we want to embrace that as well. Playing for your country is always a massive honour but you need to perform at the highest level.

“The Nations League is new to us all, we will be embracing the experience tomorrow, making history but there is also a game to play. We won’t be under-estimating Northern Ireland.” 

The Arsenal playmaker indicated an emphasis on attacking will characterise their approach for a game at which droves of fans will be watching the team in the flesh for the first time.

" I'm sure we've picked up new fans along the way over the course of the summer so it is a showcase of what we're about as a team,” outlined the Dubliner.

“We want to show the pride and passion in our performance but also we've developed some new styles this week which we can't wait to showcase tomorrow.

“We've always been defensively strong and solid but we had that attacking threat too. Hopefully tomorrow we can put all of that together.”