Gleeson wants Republic of Ireland to 'act brave' against England

Eileen Gleeson says she has told the Republic of Ireland players to "be brave and act brave" when they face defending European champions England in Friday's Euro 2025 qualifier at Carrow Road.

The Republic lost 2-0 to the Lionesses in Dublin in April and have not yet picked up a point from a difficult qualifying group which also contains Sweden.

However Gleeson wants her players to be committed when they have the ball and "manage the risk-reward balance".

"Nobody is under any illusions of what they have but when we’re going, you have to go together and fully commit," said the Republic of Ireland manager.

"It’s when you’re half and half, England will find the space and catch you - if we’re in a transition, we all have to go with the transition."

The Republic are ranked 25 in the world, 22 places behind England.

"We need to be brave enough in one v ones and act brave," Gleeson said.

"We discuss actually acting brave and not just talking about it. That’s all the psychology around it.”

The Republic will be without their star player Katie McCabe due to suspension, as well as injured San Diego Wave forward Kyra Carusa.

Manchester United defender Aoife Mannion concedes the absence of Arsenal player McCabe is "a massive loss".

"She is our captain and one of the world’s best players in my opinion.

"It provides another opportunity for players to step up, take that responsibility and try to perform. That’s football.”

While England are warm favourites, Mannion says the Irish players are determined to produce a strong performance with every goal scored, for and against, potentially significant if they want to be seeded in the play-offs.

“I would say it’s not a free hit because we have high expectations for our performance and we want to be a seeded team".