Amber Barrett: 'I think I’ve done well with that and something I’m going to keep doing'

Ireland face a trip to Sweden on Tuesday night.

Mon, 03 Jun, 2024 - 02:30

John Fallon

It’s easier to live with spurning a sitter when Amber Barrett details the obstacles she overcame to be in that position on Friday night.

As Ireland’s in-form striker, with 19 goals in 27 games for Standard Liege, she was the player one would expect to convert from a yard out.

Not to be, for Barrett failed to equalise against Sweden at Lansdowne Road by nodding over Jess Ziu’s inch-perfect delivery.

Barrett can swiftly atone in Stockholm during Tuesday’s reverse Euro qualifier. Her mental fortitude has taught her not to dwell on setbacks.

There was the thud of a comedown from her Hampden Park heroics. At the World Cup she sealed qualification for, a solitary cameo off the bench against Canada was granted.

Vera Pauw’s successor Eileen Gleeson was likeminded, keeping the Donegal native on the margins to the point of dropping her for the final pair of Nations League matches in November.

Club tribulations stung too. Before Belgium came Germany, specifically her second club after a relatively enjoyable stint with FC Koln.

“It was a terribly negative season at Potsdam, with a lot of people putting me down,” she reflects.

“You can say players were good enough but have they created the right environment? When the answer is no, they have to look at themselves but that’s not always the way people work or operate.

“I think I’m very self-reflective. I know when I’ve been terrible, not been good enough and should have been better. But I’m also aware to know that I’d been actually very good that day or I should be really proud of myself.

“With Ireland, everybody was asking me what happened but its top-level sport. Players come in and out.

“I deal with and looking back, those two weeks of Ireland camp went well at my club. My mindset was ‘don’t give her a reason to leave you out again’. I think I’ve done well with that and something I’m going to keep doing.

“You always have to do everything; be able to say that I’ve done everything in my power to ensure this doesn’t happen again. It can’t be put on you.”

Ireland are midway through their six-game campaign without a point or goal. Tuesday’s rematch is unlikely to provide respite as the Swedes grapple with France and England for the two direct tickets to next year’s Euro finals.

Denise O’Sullivan is again ruled out with a knee injury and in reality thoughts are turning to the fallback qualification route of the playoffs in October.

“Eileen told us that every goal and point counts in terms of seeding for the playoff,” added Barrett.

“We're not sitting off hoping for a draw. And I think at this stage, we just have to try and go win games, even in this quick turnaround.”