Republic of Ireland boss Gleeson ‘super realistic’ for England showdown

Republic of Ireland manager Eileen Gleeson says her team can provide a tough test for England in the Euro 2025 qualifier in Dublin on Tuesday night.

“I don’t think it’s the first time an Irish team has been tagged as underdogs in sport,” said Gleeson.

“We know we are a smaller nation but that doesn’t mean we can’t come and compete.

The Republic are the lowest ranked side in Group A3 while England are defending the title they won two years ago.

She added: “We all know the level of the opposition – we’re super realistic. We’ll have to stay in the game for as long as we can before we look to change that and pick our moments.

“We don’t ever speak about being inferior. We’re realistic about the level of opposition and then we adapt ourselves and use our own strengths.”

Gleeson will be without without injured West Ham midfielder Jess Ziu with Glasgow City’s Emily Whelan coming in as her replacement.

Republic captain Katie McCabe played down any rivalry between the sides at a media conference on Monday with the sole focus on reaching the finals for the first time.

“I guess that’s men’s history but we’ve not played them as a women’s team since 1987 – you can create what you want to create but it’s just another game,” said the Arsenal defender.

“France on Friday was a massive, playing against the European champions is massive. Each game is so big and we remain focused on what we have to do.

“It’s another stepping stone for us to try and qualify for the Euros for the first time.

“We’ve never played a competitive game in the Euros at the Aviva Stadium so to do that against England in front of 30,000 people will be a really nice occasion and hopefully we can top it off by getting a result.”