Niamh Fahey: 'My focus is Liverpool. If I do well there I'll get selected for Ireland'

Niamh Fahey pictured at Dublin Airport.

Plenty has gone on in the seven months since Niamh Fahey last wore the Ireland jersey but she’s glad ‘issues of the past’ have been dealt with as she eyes the Euro qualifiers.

The squad’s elder stateswomen at 36 is still one of the few Women’s Super League regulars – as Liverpool captain – but faces competition to regain her international spot.

It’s all laudable seeing as the ‘story of her life’, as she describes her calf injuries, have impacted for the majority of the time from her World Cup bow last summer.

She was a spectator watching drama unfold off the pitch – when Vera Pauw was dismissed as manager within a month of their return from Australia – whereas the Nations League campaign provided the springboard to rack up six successive wins.

That whitewash earned Ireland promotion to the top tier for the qualification series that’ll unfold once the draw is made on March 5 in Nyon.

Two friendlies, against Italy on Friday in Florence and Wales at home next Tuesday at Tallaght, fill the vacuum before the competitive fare starts in April and Fahey feels the environment under new boss Eileen Gleeson is better suited to success.

Diane Caldwell had in September outlined in deep detail the squad’s dissatisfaction with Pauw’s regime – problems she insisted were ignored – but her fellow stalwart believes escalation routes now exist.

“I can’t really speak on behalf of other players and what they think, but just from my own experience, yes, I am very comfortable with the channels that are open if anything needs to be said,” said the Galwegian.

“It’s quite clear that there were issues in the past, but everyone is comfortable with where we are now.

Liverpool's Niamh Fahey and Brighton and Hove Albion's Elisabeth Terland do battle.

“If there ever needs to be an issue addressed everyone knows the correct channels (but) I don’t think that’s an issue anymore.” 

All Fahey must direct her energies into is reclaiming her defensive berth. Caitlin Hayes’s declaration of allegiance led to her constant presence over the six matches but Louise Quinn is nursing a shoulder injury that will likely see her rested on Friday.

“There’s no guarantees about anything in life,” she stressed, fresh from helping the Reds beat Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.

“So it’s a very competitive squad, one of the strongest we’ve ever had. Caitlin has done excellently. Fair play, she’s played well. I can only control what I can control; it's not going to be easy and I’m not in charge of selection.” 

Still, she’s willing to stick around and fight for the berth. Fahey was circumspect about any international retirement plans after the Nigeria stalemate in Brisbane but isn’t minded to make the decision herself. There’s also the incentive of gracing the Lansdowne Road pitch after missing out on the Northern Ireland breakthrough five months ago.

“I thought I’d see how pre-season goes, where I am with Liverpool - if I’m playing or if I’m not playing - because you need to be playing at your club first,” she said of her international mindset.

“Pre-season went well up to the point where I got injured and now I got back in the starting XI with Liverpool. I’m feeling fit and healthy again. I’m focusing on my club first, seeing how that goes. If I’m doing well enough, then I’ll get selected for Ireland.”