Women’s World Cup qualifier: Republic of Ireland v Netherlands, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Friday, 7.30pm – Live RTÉ 2Fair to say, it’s been a World Cup qualifying campaign of two halves for the Republic of Ireland thus far. The opening window yielded zero points, after 2-1 defeats to nations ranked in the top 10 of the Fifa list, France and the Netherlands, but the second hauled in six from the double-header against Poland, the group’s outsiders.The third and final window kicks off against the Dutch in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Friday evening, before the group phase is completed in Grenoble on Tuesday. If Carla Ward’s crew can pull off a couple of results for the ages, then their tickets to Brazil 2027 will be booked. Otherwise, they’ll head for the playoffs.As it stands, with those two games to play, Ireland are a point adrift of the French and two short of the Netherlands’ tally. But the ever-buoyant head coach Ward, on media duty at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Thursday, was refusing to rule out her side upsetting the odds in the group.“This is another opportunity to test ourselves against the very best. Come the end of it, we’ll see where we’re at. We know the strength of this squad and we have got a belief that we can go and create something really special. With the help of the Cork people, I think we can create an amazing atmosphere and be ready to get out of the traps quickly,” Ward said.“Historically, no one has wanted to play against Ireland because as a nation it’s gritty, it has a determination, always difficult to beat. Over the years, they have defended tremendously well, but I think there is a different side to our game now, we can go and hurt teams, we go out to win. A couple of years ago we would have been in a different boat, but we are not too far off now.”Manager Carla Ward at squad training at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Thursday. Photograph: Tom Maher/INPHO After plenty of experimentation in the early part of her reign, Ward has largely hit upon her tried and trusted in this campaign, nine players starting each of the four games so far, any changes made being mainly enforced ones due to injury or suspension. This time, though, she’ll be without the suspended Denise O’Sullivan, the team’s creative force from the centre, and Emily Murphy, player of the match in three of those games. Ruesha Littlejohn would be the more experienced option to deputise for O’Sullivan, although the 35-year-old has had very little game time in the season just ended and, as ever, there are question marks over her fitness levels due to her long-standing Achilles issue. And in the absence of Murphy, should Ward opt for company for Kyra Carusa up top or out wide, then Abbie Larkin, Saoirse Noonan and Amber Barrett are the chief contenders to fill her boots. Larkin, who has been rewarded with a two-year contract extension after her contribution to Crystal Palace’s promotion-winning season, might have the edge on that front, although Corkonian Noonan won’t be slow to remind Ward that she scored the winner in Ireland’s last Páirc Uí Chaoimh appearance, against Slovenia, a year ago. The Dutch, we were reliably informed, aren’t the side they once were, certainly not of the calibre of the team that won the 2017 European Championships and were beaten finalists in the 2019 World Cup. Being held to a draw by the Poles in Gdansk back in March appeared to confirm the theory, but since then they have beaten the French at home and drew with them away. Ireland, then, will need to be at their gritty best to take anything from them in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.Possible line-up: Brosnan; Mannion, Patten, Hayes, Mustaki, McCabe; Littlejohn, Connolly, Sheva; Larkin, Carusa.