'Chilled' Liverpool striker Leanne Kiernan says she has “tunnel vision” when it comes to competition for a place in Vera Pauw’s World Cup squad.
The Cavan native on Thursday night made her first start at any level since early September, when a serious ankle injury in the WSL opener against Chelsea all but ended her season.
She played the first 45 minutes before making way at half-time for Amber Barrett, who went on to score a brace in Ireland’s 3-2 win over Zambia.
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That meant the headlines were all about Barrett, as she all but booked her ticket on the flight to Australia.
However, Kiernan insisted: “I’m happy for Amber. She did brilliant and she got her two goals, and she deserved them.
“All I can do is focus on myself. Everybody else is not in my tunnel vision right now.”
Kiernan and her teammates will enjoy this weekend off before returning to UCD on Monday and resuming the training camp.
There is a celebration night, organised by sponsors Sky, in the Mansion House on Tuesday night.
And then it’s down to the serious business of trimming the squad down to 23.
Pauw will name her World Cup squad next Thursday morning in UCD, ahead of the July 6 friendly against France and the departure to Brisbane a day later.
For nine players, there will be heartache, although three of those will have the consolation of travelling to Australia as ‘training players’ and be eligible to replace an injured teammate up to the eve of the tournament.
Despite everything that is at stake, including at least €28,000 in prize money from FIFA for every member of the 32 squads, Kiernan is remaining calm, focused and chilled.
She explained why, saying: “I guess it’s just knowing that you have done all you could. The last nine months, I put all the work in that I could, to prove that I am good enough to go.
“I guess it’s just out of my hands now, isn’t it? So there is no point in stressing over something you can’t control. Just chill, wait and see.”
The 24-year-old knows she is in a battle to win her place at the World Cup - a process that might have been far more straightforward had she not suffered an injury nightmare.
But she managed just one 32-minute substitute appearance for the Reds last month, before joining the Irish pre-World Cup camp.
“It’s been a wee while since I had a bit of game-time,” Kiernan said.
“Listen, I know I can be sharper, but hopefully in the next few weeks I can get up to the old Leanne.
“I could see glimpses of my game where I know I can improve on, but obviously that will come with game-time.”
What she did show during her display on Thursday was that familiar instinct to be in the right place at the right time.
With more minutes under her belt, she might have tucked away one of the chances that fell her way, or avoided the marginal offside decision that robbed her of a goal.
“Honestly, if only that lineswoman didn’t put up her flag,” she said.
“I don’t even know (how close the decision was), maybe a tiny bit. But we spoke about that before we got on the pitch - don’t be offside Leanne!”
Kiernan added that she was thrilled to be back among her international pals, with her previous appearance away to Slovakia coming just weeks before her injury.
“It’s just brilliant to be back in with the squad and to be given the opportunity,” she said.
“My highlight was seeing the girls for the first time again, because some of them I hadn’t seen for a full nine months.
“It’s been brilliant. And just getting on the ball, popping the ball in the goal, it’s been nice, it’s been really nice to be involved and to hopefully prove that I still have it. Let’s hope I did enough.
“I felt okay. The two weeks of training were really good, the quality of the training sessions were really good.
“Going into the game, obviously it didn’t go right in the first-half, we were down 1-0, but thankfully we had the girls to come on and change it around.
“Just being back involved has been great. If I look back to when it happened, the injury, I didn’t think I’d be involved at all.
“So it’s been brilliant to get this far and hopefully I’ll keep going.
“The crowd was amazing. Obviously it’s great playing in England, but everybody wants to represent their country and play in front of these fans.”
