Vera Pauw: 'We were still deciding World Cup squad at 1am on Tuesday,' says Republic boss

Republic of Ireland boss Vera Pauw said that she was still deciding her World Cup squad up until 1am on Tuesday morning.

Pauw named her 23 player squad and three travelling reserves for the tournament on Wednesday.

The 60-year-old revealed that she and her staff had a sleepless night deliberating the final squad.

"Monday night, we were still going at 1am and then we said 'guys we will go to sleep'," she said.

"We were there at 8am again in a meeting with each other. Then we had training and after training, we went through the video of the training to really, really be sure that we are making the right decisions.

"Every week we've discussed every single player. We went through all the video every single week after every single game they played," explained Pauw.

"There were a few that were very hard decisions, but we are fully behind it".

'Breaking dreams' toughest part of selection process

Pauw had to whittle her squad down to 23 players with three reserves from the 32-strong training group she has been working with for the last month.

Manchester United defender Aoife Mannion and Liverpool's Megan Campbell missed out through injury, with Leanne Kiernan not deemed fit enough to warrant a place on the plane.

Hayley Nolan, Tara O'Hanlon, Saoirse Noonan and Erin McLaughlin were the other players to be cut from the squad.

Goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse and Birmingham City duo Harriet Scott and Jamie Finn are on the standby list.

They will travel with the squad on 7 July with the Republic facing co-hosts Australia in their opening game on 20 July in Sydney.

Injury-enforced changes to the 23 players named are permitted before Fifa's deadline on 10 July.

Pauw admitted that the players who found out they will be on the plane to Australia were subdued in their celebrations, as they shared the heartache of those who didn't make the cut.

"It's been a tough few days. Coming to that last 23 plus three is hard because you grew with so many players to such a height and then breaking the dreams of players is so hard. We knew it would be," conceded Pauw.

"This was as hard day for all of us, also the players who made it. They feel more the pain for the players who didn't make it rather than celebration for themselves".

She was particularly emotional at having to leave out Finn, who played a key role in helping the Republic to qualify for their first ever World Cup.

However, she is delighted that the versatile 25-year old the will be on standby if any injuries occur.

"I'm so happy that she's still on the plane and she's still with us. She will at least experience the World Cup and if there is an injury, she will be ready to jump in.

"Harriet Scott also did so fantastically, but unfortunately others were at an even higher level".

Players 'stood out' in Zambia game

Celtic defender Claire O'Riordan scored her first international goal in the friendly win over Zambia last week

The Dutchwoman believes that the Zambia friendly, which the Republic won 3-2, was ideal to enable her to fine tune selections for the final 23.

Celtic defender Claire O'Riordan and Hearts midfielder Ciara Grant played key roles in the game, alongside West Ham's Izzy Atkinson.

The 21-year-old wasn't included in Pauw's initial training squad, but started the friendly in Tallaght due to Campbell's fitness issues, and will now board the plane for the Republic's group games against Australia, Canada and Nigeria.

"We could not have wished for more from that (the Zambia game). Every single player got a chance until the last minute and that is what actually happened".

She added: "There were a few players who stood up and did fantastically that you couldn't go round them anymore".

Pauw 'proud' of backroom staff

The Republic will now prepare for their two final friendlies before the World Cup kicks off, with a send-off game against France at Tallaght to come on 6 July.

Six days before their opening game of the tournament, they will play a behind-closed-doors match in Brisbane against Colombia.

Pauw is looking forward to seeing supporters come out in numbers for the France game, and praised her staff for preventing injuries during the training camp.

"We have already had two remarkable weeks, we have had players come in from different backgrounds, some with two weeks without football, others without six or seven.

"Despite that we have zero injuries, no muscle injuries, not even one ankle injury. Everyone is fully fit, so I am so proud of my staff."