IRELAND AND ARSENAL’S Katie McCabe, who is an injury doubt for Sunday’s north London derby, has said she hopes football’s governing bodies give players more time to rest between games.

The Irish captain limped off in the 73rd minute of Tuesday’s defeat to Wales, with manager Eileen Gleeson confirming a quad strain afterwards. 

Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall said today that McCabe was “progressing well” after taking that knock against Wales. 

The Gunners have already sold more than 58,000 tickets for Sunday’s north London derby against Spurs, two weeks after selling 60,160 for a first-time Women’s Super League sell-out at the Emirates Stadium.

But in order for teams to deliver an on-pitch product worthy of those legions, McCabe said players need adequate time to allow their bodies to recover from the increasingly demanding nature of the elite women’s game.

“I think for us to be playing at our best and to be giving those record crowds good games to watch we need to be fresh,” McCabe said. 

“With the FIFA window, and obviously the Euro qualifiers window, it’s incredible how they’ve moved an international camp in the middle of summer and thinking that was a good idea.

“It’s difficult. Obviously we are footballers, we want to be able to play the games, but we also want to feel that freshness going into it as well. It’s really difficult for us, but we obviously need to keep going.

“Unfortunately it’s not in our power as players, we want the governing bodies to listen to us and to make sure there’s change with that as well, because it’s not going to be solved in the way it’s being solved right now.”