Megan Connolly says the Republic of Ireland will have to lick their wounds and make sure harsh lessons have been learned after they suffered an agonising Euro 2025 play-off defeat to Wales.
Rhian Wilkinson's well-drilled side plundered a 2-1 victory at Aviva Stadium that sent them to next summer's tournament in Switzelrand.
It was a bitterly disappointing night for the Girls in Green, but Connolly was defiant in the aftermath, adamant the squad will harness the pain to get better.
"We'll keep going," the Lazio midfielder said. "It’ll be a tough few months. Some teams are prepping for the Euros, we’re prepping to be better and make sure this doesn't happen again.
"After Christmas the Nations League games and World Cup qualifiers begin, so life moves on. We need to process this and be better because we want to be at major tournaments. We have to learn from this."
Questions will linger now over the future of head coach Eileen Gleeson, whose contract with the FAI is up. With a number players also well into their 30s, talk of retirements is also likely to crop up in the coming days, but Connolly sees no reason why anyone will walk away.
"Hopefully all the players are here to stay," she added. "I think if the players are fit and well and playing with their clubs, whatever their age, then they should keep playing. That is the backbone of the team.
"The age is what it is but if they are playing fine then they should keep going.
"It's still quite a fresh feeling. We'll try and process it. Everyone wanted to be there (Switzerland). We were prepared and just on the day it didn’t go our way.
"Everyone is devastated. If I'm being honest I don't have many words at the minute, it’s quite something to process."
Reflecting on the game itself, Connolly pinpointed Carrie Jones' goal that put the Welsh 2-0 ahead as the tie's decisive moment. Ultimately, it left Ireland with too much to do.
"Coming into the game everyone was ready, we had a good feeling, we wanted to put our best foot forward," the 26-year-old stressed.
"It was a tough first half but the second half was even and Wales getting the goals gave us a bit of a mountain to climb. Players came on and tried to make an impact, and on another day we could have got another one but we’re just devastated.
"It was unfortunate and then the second goal came against the run of play, we were pushing trying to get an equaliser and then Wales got the goal. It was a mountain to climb then, they were time wasting, we’d do the same. We almost got there."
