SOME FINN TO CHEER..

Finland

v Ireland Tuesday, 4.15pm

BY

KATIE MCCABE says Ireland can take pride from their performance on Thursday night against Sweden - and confidence too as they head into next Tuesday’s World Cup clash in Finland.

A Louise Quinn own goal was all that stood between the Girls in Green and a famous draw against Sweden, who are ranked second in the world. The Birmingham City defender was desperately unlucky to see a wayward shot clip the inside of her leg and bobble into the net just six minutes before the break. Next week’s trip to Finland throws up another tricky tie against the Group A second seeds, who have kicked off with wins over Slovakia and Georgia.

However, Mccabe (above) reckons the performance last Thursday night can help lay the foundations for a successful qualification campaign.

“I think we definitely stood toe-to-toe to them at times, the second best team in the world,” said the Arsenal ace.

“And the crowd as well really helped us push on in that second half, it was brilliant. I thought we deserved more from the game.”

Ireland boss Vera Pauw (inset) has been boosted by the news that Denise O’sullivan’s arm injury is not as bad as first feared.

She hurt her elbow as she fell in the closing moments of the game and was taken straight to hospital.

The scan didn’t show any serious damage, so she is expected to feature against Finland.

Coming away with at least a point from Helsinki would be a huge boost to Ireland’s bid to clinch a top-two spot and, at the very least, a play-off.

Mccabe continued: “I think there’s certainly positives to take [from Thursday’s performance].

“Obviously Finland is a whole other ball game. We’ll look to recover from this one and then get all focused on Finland.

“I think it [confidence] is embedded in the team. We try to create that, especially in training.

“We know what we’re good at, but it’s about eliminating those mistakes that kind of cost us in the end.

“We’ve got real quality, we’ve got players playing at a high level that can bring that quality in as well.”