Katie McCabe reached out to Chelsea's Alyssa Thompson since hair-pull episode

Katie McCabe during a Republic of Ireland women's training session at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Katie McCabe has refused to reveal whether Alyssa Thompson accepted her apology after the recent hair-pulling incident overshadowed Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final victory.

Chelsea were incensed that McCabe escaped a red card after she grabbed the American’s hair while pursuing her in a duel.

The Ireland skipper posted an apology on her social media accounts and has now outlined how she contacted the attacker.

“It affected me and I’m sure it affected (Alyssa) Thompson just as much,” said McCabe at a press conference for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Poland at Lansdowne Road.

“The only thing I’ll say on that matter, because my full focus is on Poland, is that I had no intention of what actually happened in pulling her hair.

“I was going for her shirt but clearly missed.

“You could see from my reaction straight afterwards how apologetic that I was.

“I’ve reached out to Thompson as well to reiterate those apologies.

“I’ve massive respect for her. She’s a phenomenal player and that’s all I’ll say about that.” 

Asked if the player bought by Chelsea from Angel City for €1.3m last November had replied or accepted the apology, McCabe was circumspect.

“I’ll keep that between myself and Thompson.” 

McCabe hasn’t been offered a contract extension following a decade at the Gunners.

Her final game could be the Champions League decider in Oslo on May 23 but she insists the contractual situation isn’t a distraction.

“I am fully committed to do my job here with Ireland,” asserted the 30-year-old.

“When I am doing all those things throughout the week it puts me in a good position to go into games.

“I just try to look after myself as best as possible.

“This is a crunch time of the season whether you are with club or country.

“The demands on your body and what is being asked of you, especially in such big games against high opposition, means I just try and be as consistent as possible in terms of how I eat, sleep, train, recover.

“When I am doing all those things throughout the week it puts me in a good position to go into Ireland’s games.”