Ireland assistant head coach Gary Cronin has played down concerns over a potential hand injury for Katie McCabe ahead of next week’s double-header of World Cup qualifiers against Poland.
Gdánsk is the venue for Ireland’s away day against the Poles on Tuesday, before the return game in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, April 18th at 3pm.
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We were in attendance for training at FAI HQ on Thursday morning, during which Katie McCabe could be seen with heavy bandaging on her hand.
It was confirmed to the Irish media that the injury was sustained during the last international window, though the exact nature of the injury remains unclear.
However, assistant head coach Gary Cronin would confirm that there is no threat of McCabe missing either of this week’s pivotal qualifiers.
“No, it’s not affecting our preparations, she has it well bandaged up,” Cronin told the Irish media on Friday.
It’s as simple as that Katie McCabe is preparing the very same way as Katie McCabe prepares for all international football (games).
[It was sustained] in our last camp. I haven’t put much thought to it because I spoke to [her] once about it and she really brushed it off as ‘this is nothing. I know it looks worse because it’s something on my hand.’
I really have put no thought into that injury because she raised no concerns about her ability to play.
The strapping on McCabe’s hand certainly looked extensive pitchside at Ireland training on Thursday, so it comes as a relief that her participation in Tuesday’s game in Gdánsk is not under threat.
McCabe and her teammates will certainly be under no illusions on the importance of this camp to Ireland’s hopes of reaching next summer’s World Cup.
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Ireland coach Cronin looks ahead to Poland
After back-to-back defeats against France and the Netherlands to open their qualifying group, the importance of Ireland picking up big points from their double-header against Poland is not lost on assistant head coach Gary Cronin.
“When it comes to points, it’s as simple as…yeah we have a plan to win every game,” Cronin said.
We had a plan to try and win against France, a plan to win against Holland, and this is the same, we’ll have a plan to try and win in Poland and when they come to the Aviva. That’s football, we’ll try and win.
But I’m not going to sit here and say we need maximum points. No, no. they’re going to be tough games and we’ll do all we can to try and get the results.
This is Cronin’s second camp as assistant head coach, having stepped into the role after the departure of Alan Mahon late last year.
Evidently, the relationship between Cronin and head coach Carla Ward is strong, and he gave an insight into how the staff will approach these games, and what they have learned from the disappointment of the March window.
“Listen, there is always a plan for changes,” Cronin said of Ireland’s in-game management.
The coaching staff, led by Carla obviously, we have the potential changes that may happen in a game.
When football happens, football happens, sometimes a team goes down to ten men or whatever the change may be.
We prepare for every scenario that we can but when it comes to it, in game, with 15 or 20 minutes to go, there are a lot more things to assess having played 75 minutes of football, quite often at those points we are seeing what are the best options we have at that particular moment in time.
Ireland face Poland in Gdánsk on Tuesday, April 14th. Kick-off is at 5pm Irish time and the game is live on RTÉ 2.
Eoin Harrington reporting from Ireland camp
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