Several players unavailable as Ireland name squad for USA friendlies

Ireland manager Carla Ward said she knew "certain players" would be unavailable when the games were organised. 

Ireland will play the USA in Colorado and Cincinnati. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Ireland head coach Carla Ward has named a 23-player squad for the two upcoming friendlies against the United States.

A number of players, including Aoife Mannion, Heather Payne, Tara O’Hanlon, Katie McCabe, Jamie Finn, Lily Agg, Jess Ziu and Leanne Kiernan, were unavailable for selection. 

The FAI said that following the death of her mother, Siobhan, midfielder Aoibheann Clancy "is being given the time to deal with this difficult period and has the full support of the WNT squad".

Crystal Palace defender Hayley Nolan and Wexford midfielder Ellen Molloy have been handed their first call-ups since Ward was appointed. 

“Hayley has been unlucky to miss out on being included in recent squads, simply because we have a lot of competition for places at centre-back," said Ward.

"We have kept an eye on her at club level, I’ve spoken with her managers and also had conversations with her. So we are excited to bring Hayley in and give her a chance.

“Ellen is a player who we have been tracking closely. She has done well for Wexford over the last two months and has been on the long list for our squads, so we needed an opportunity to take a closer look at her in our envirnoment and this is it.

“We know how talented Ellen is but it’s how she can adapt that to international level is what we need to look at. I watched her when she was with Sheffield United and we’ve been watching her at Wexford, so we want to see how she gets on during this camp."

Ward believes Emma Hayes has taken the USA to "another level" since she was appointed a year-and-a-half ago. 

“The two games against USA are an opportunity for us to work together on a number of things – both on and off the pitch – as we build towards the UEFA Nations League Play-Off against Belgium in October," said Ward.

"We will be coming up against the best team in women’s football, so we will have a plan for those games but it’s also important that we make the most out of this camp as a whole.

“When these games were first proposed to us we knew that we would be without certain players, but that opens the door for others to step up. We are building, camp by camp, so we are looking forward to getting together again and putting in some extra work that will stand to us moving forward.” 

Ireland face the USA in Colorado at 2am Irish time on June 27th and then in Cincinnati at 8pm Irish time on June 29th. Both games will be shown live on the RTÉ Player with the second one also being broadcast on RTÉ2. 

IRELAND WNT SQUAD 

Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (Unattached), Sophie Whitehouse (Charlton Athletic) 

Defenders: Jessie Stapleton (West Ham United), Anna Patten (Aston Villa), Caitlin Hayes (Brighton & Hove Albion), Hayley Nolan (Crystal Palace), Chloe Mustaki (Bristol City), Megan Campbell (Unattached) 

Midfielders: Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Lazio), Tyler Toland (Blackburn Rovers), Ruesha Littlejohn (Shamrock Rovers), Marissa Sheva (Sunderland), Ellen Molloy (Wexford) 

Forwards: Kyra Carusa (San Diego Wave), Abbie Larkin (Crystal Palace), Amber Barrett (Standard Liege), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City), Emily Murphy (Newcastle United), Saoirse Noonan (Celtic), Erin Healy (Adelaide United), Izzy Atkinson (Unattached)