The Republic of Ireland are in Koper looking to iron out a few wrinkles in the embryonic stages of the Carla Ward era.
In the autumn/winter of 2023 the Girls in Green breezed through a weak League B group that included Northern Ireland, Albania and Hungary. As the best-ranked country in the group, they're expected to rack up the wins again, however it's unlikely to be as straightforward this time around.
The Turks were stubbornly organised, Greece will be committed and physical, but it's Slovenia who pose the biggest threat.
Ranked 39th in the world (Ireland are 25th), Sasa Kolman's charges started their campaign with a 2-1 victory against the Greeks in Crete.
In truth the scoreline flattered the home team. Slovenia had 19 efforts on goal compared to Greece's six at Stadio Thodoros Vardinoyannis, and it really should have been more comfortable.
They have good pedigree in the ranks; the likes of Lara Praanikar (Eintracht Frankfurt), Kaja Korosec (Paris FC), Zara Kramzar (Roma) and Kaja Erzen (Fiorentina) have all played in the Champions League this season.
After getting relegated from League B in 2023, Slovenia won six games out of six in League C of Euro 2025 qualification before coming unstuck against Austria in the play-offs.
So this will be an interesting test for the Girls in Green.
Ward is without Leanne Kiernan (calf), while five players missed training on Sunday due to various knocks and niggles. There will be changes.
Ruesha Littlejohn has to manage her Achilles tendonitis so may sit this one out having put in a shift on a heavy pitch a few days ago. That might mean a debut appearance for Melisa Filis, the strong, front-footed Charlton Athletic midfielder. Jessie Stapleton, Megan Connolly and Tyler Toland are other capable deputies.
Megan Campbell, so luckless with injuries, played well at centre-half against the Turks but could be replaced by the reliable Caitlin Hayes as Ward utilises her defensive options.
Lucy Quinn struggled to make an impact on the left flank and might get the chop. Izzy Atkinson will hope opportunity knocks amid her struggles to make the matchday squad at Crystal Palace recently. Her clubmate, and flatmate, Abbie Larkin was sprightly off the bench on Friday and is also in contention to get the nod.
Ward has promised "the system will never change" so we can expect a variation of 4-4-2 again, with a possible tweak to liberate playmaker Denise O'Sullivan, who's in line to move to joint second on the all-time appearance list alongside Louise Quinn on 121 games.
If the Turkish game was a mucky arm wrestle, this one should be more like a chess match. Ward said so herself, declaring: "If I'm honest I think this type of game will be better than the game against Turkey. Why? Because you've got two teams who want to play fotball.
"There will be spaces that open up which naturally makes for a better game. It'll be a very different game but it will be a tough game because they've got an abundance of quality."
That should suit the visitors who have work to do if they're to effectively play a passing game against teams ranked inside the world's top 10 but remain a notch above pretty much everyone else swashing around League B.
It'll be tough, but Ireland's two difference makers, O'Sullivan and Katie McCabe, should once again provide the spark that proves decisive.
Prediction: Slovenia 1-2 Republic of Ireland
Predicted lineup: Courtney Brosnan; Aoife Mannion, Anna Patten, Caitlin Hayes, Katie McCabe; Megan Connolly; Heather Payne, Melisa Filis, Denise O'Sullivan, Abbie Larkin; Kyra Carusa
