Republic of Ireland midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn pointed to Séamus Coleman in a defiant rebuttal to any suggestions she can no longer do the business on the international stage.
Littlejohn, 35, was a surprise starter against the Netherlands at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in last Friday night's World Cup qualifier. She'd played just 46 minutes of football since last December, her time at Crystal Palace disrupted by a five-match ban for grabbing Leicester City's Hannah Cain in a headlock and wrestling her to the ground.
Littlejohn is now a free agent, but Carla Ward - who managed the Glaswegian at Birmingham City and Aston Villa - has always been a big admirer of her capabilities.
Ward trusted Littlejohn to do a job for 45 minutes against the Dutch in the absence of the suspended Denise O'Sullivan. Littlejohn justified that faith with an excellent pass to Abbie Larkin that led to Kyra Carusa's opening goal. She was replaced by Jess Ziu at the break.
"Honestly, I find it baffling that people want to write players off because they have not played a lot of minutes," said Littlejohn ahead of Tuesday's showdown with France in Grenoble, where victory would send the Girls in Green straight to next summer's tournament in Brazil.
"I would like to have played more minutes, I feel capable of playing more minutes but at the end of the day the (Crystal Palace) manager (Jo Potter) picks her strongest team and I wasn't in the plans, so that's that. Palace got promoted so I can't really complain about it.
"I am 35, that is my 94th cap for Ireland, so I don't know why people do not expect me to come in and play 45 minutes. We can do it in our sleep now, as an experienced player.
"If Séamus Coleman can do it, so can I. It's no big deal. People are always looking to pull people down but you got to block that out and believe in yourself.
"We've a great group of players. We back each other up on the pitch."
Littlejohn said she's unsure of her next club move at this juncture, and is fully focusing on what could be a seismic few days for Ireland.
Ward has built real momentum going into the group's climactic game against a dauntingly good French outfit.
Littlejohn was full of praise for the head coach's methods, which are coaxing performances full of courage and attacking verve. France are the group's top scorers with 10, but Ireland have netted just one less in their five games to date.
"Carla is one of the most laid-back managers, she is all about environment," said Littlejohn. "She wants everyone to be themselves within the group and I think that is massive. I have been in a lot of teams and worked under a lot of managers, and you work with some who sit in a room and put the fear factor into everyone where they can't be themselves.
"But I think Carla is all about making people feel comfortable in the environment and then she is able to get the best out of everyone.
"There is nothing worse than people coming into an environment where they are scared to be themselves and they're hiding and you can’t show your personality. But she is all about that, she wants people to come in and have fun. Obviously, we knuckle down when we are on the training pitch, it is work time then. When we're in the meeting room, it is work time. But every other time, let’s just enjoy it."
As for France, ranked seventh in the world, Littlejohn insisted there will be no fear in the Stade des Alpes. Ireland are guaranteed a seeded place in the autumn playoffs even if they lose, but there is a genuine belief among the squad that they can do something special.
"Every team has their strengths and weaknesses," added Littlehjohn. "Obviously we go into the game as underdogs but we believe in our squad. We are going to try and make it as difficult as possible for France. We are going to make it competitive.
"They are a world class team with world class players all over their squad. We played them in Tallaght so we know how good they can be. Tactically, we'll be ready to go."
Watch France v Republic of Ireland in FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying on Tuesday from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on Inside Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
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Source: RTE
