There will be a pep in the Welsh step ahead of these games, given their dominant 2-0 friendly win in Tallaght back in February. Jess Fishlock and Lily Woodham scored the goals as the Dragons made light work of an Ireland side shorn of Denise O’Sullivan and Aoife Mannion, while Katie McCabe left the fray injured.
It is Wales who have injury concerns this time, with Chelsea’s Sophie Ingle currently out with an ACL injury while Crystal Palace’s Elise Hughes, impressive up front in February, is also out. Ireland’s veteran defender Louise Quinn is injured – as are Ellen Molloy, Jess Ziu and Lucy Quinn – but her absence isn’t as keenly felt as it once was, given the emergence of Aston Villa’s Anna Patten, the only Irish goalscorer in the WSL so far this season.
Gleeson name-checked Patten when pointing out how the team has changed from that swept aside by Wales. ‘We are a different team compared to where we were in February, but they are a different team with new management.’
Anna Patten of Republic of Ireland acknowledges supporters after the UEFA Women’s European Championship qualifying group A match between France and Republic of Ireland at Stade Saint-Symphorien in Metz, France. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Some of the differences is personnel.
‘February was a friendly and we played a younger team. Denise O’Sullivan wasn’t available, Anna Patten and Aoife Mannion weren’t involved. So, it’s different personnel for us, different experiences for us. We see progression, we feel we’ve progressed and we’ve learned. It’s a whole other mentality from a friendly game to a play-off as well.’
Unlike the World Cup play-off against Scotland, this will be a two-legged affair, with the return game in the Aviva on Tuesday, December 3, for which 15,000 tickets had been sold up to yesterday. So perhaps, Ireland might take a more conservative approach in Cardiff City Stadium next Friday.
‘We will have our approach but we will still be looking to win the game,’ Gleeson said. ‘They will be looking to win the game, too. What we definitely don’t want to do is go away and come back here and chasing a big deficit, these are all the factors you have to consider as a coach.’
Ireland played Wales in a friendly earlier this year. Pic: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Ruesha Littlejohn, Megan Connolly and Megan Campbell are all welcomed back into the squad following their recent absences, while O’Sullivan, Kyra Carusa and Marisa Sheva are out of season following the conclusion of the NWSL campaign, although American clubs have organised training sessions for their international players. Galway United’s Julie-Ann Russell, as the sole home-based player, is currently training with a boys’ team at Salthill Devon.
‘That’s the challenge of international football, the variants of league seasons. But the American-based players are still training with their clubs and the clubs are facilitating all of their international players to keep them fresh, that is taken care of. Julie-Ann is linked in with a boys’ club, so the clubs are supporting their players, and we are linking in with that.
‘But if there is nothing from a club, we would find a solution to make sure the players are coming in fresh enough.’
Kyra Carusa of Republic of Ireland celebrates with teammate Julie-Ann Russell, left, after scoring their side’s second goal during the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 Play-Off Round 1 second leg match between Republic of Ireland and Georgia at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
One notable omission is Celtic’s Saoirse Noonan, considering the Cork native has been finding the net with regularity in Scotland and has been playing Champions League – coming off the bench in the 3-0 defeat to Chelsea during the week. However, Gleeson insists that it is simply a sign of how deep the squad has become.
‘It is a selection process, so it does show the depth of the squad. The forward line has changed as well, we have Kyra, we have Julie-Ann, they have been playing really well, we have Amber [Barrett] involved. Saoirse is on the standby list, she has gone to Glasgow Celtic, she is getting minutes there and scoring some goals but there are still levels we want her to push to, but she is in the conversation. It is reflective of how the squad is developing.’
That development has taken the squad to the point where they are two games away from a second successive major tournament. More history beckons, although there may be plenty of nervy moments in Cardiff and Dublin before they get there.
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Publish date : 2024-11-22 01:47:00
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