Women's Hockey:Irish women's hockey coach Gene Muller has called on his charges to show "mental toughness" in their World Cup qualifiers in Santiago, Chile, next month.
The South African named an 18-strong squad for the tournament this afternoon and reported no injury worries ahead of their pursuit of the one qualifying spot from the tournament, which starts on April 24th.
Catholic Institute’s Eimear Cregan once again captains the squad which features four changes from last summer’s European Championship panel - UCC’s Audrey O’Flynn and Julia O’Halloran and Loreto’s Louisa Healy and Niamh Small come in for Lauren Barr, Emma Gray, Emma Stewart and the retired Cathy McKean.
Ireland, rated 15th in the world, are the second highest-ranked team in their group behind Australia (fifth), but Muller insists his side will be thoroughly tested in the matches against the hosts (16th), Ukraine (21st), Malaysia (22nd) and Scotland (23rd).
“Our main aim will be performing to our potential. Our preparation has been thorough and we have no immediate injury scares, which bodes well for the team,” said Muller.
“There are no easy points given the evenly matched nature of the teams in Santiago, so mental toughness will be paramount to progress in this tournament.
“Australia is the obvious stand-out team having recently lost in the Champions trophy final.”
Ireland Squad
Emma Clarke (Leicester)
Bridget Cleland (Vice Captain) (Ballymoney)
Lizzie Colvin (Loreto)
Eimear Cregan (captain) (Catholic Institute)
Roisin Flinn (Old Alex)
Megan Frazer (Maryland)
Mary Goode (GK) (Bray)
Michelle Harvey (Pegasus)
Louisa Healy (GK) (Loreto)
Lisa Jacob (UCD)
Shirley McCay (Dragons)
Audrey O’Flynn (UCC)
Julia O’Halloran (UCC)
Cliodhna Sargent (Cork Harlequins)
Niamh Small (Loreto)
Emma Smyth (Railway)
Alex Speers (Dragons)
Nikki Symmons (Loreto)