1 day Ago
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND women’s head coach Eileen Gleeson is due to name her squad for the upcoming Euro 2025 play-off tomorrow. Ireland face Wales in a two-legged play-off next Friday, 29 November, and Tuesday, 3 December, to decide who qualifies for their first European Championships. The away tie is up first at Cardiff City Stadium, before a home showdown four days later at Aviva Stadium.
Gleeson will announce her selection of players at the Lansdowne Road venue on Thursday morning. Expect consistency as the Dubliner approaches the one-year mark as permanent manager, but there will be ins and outs. There are several injury doubts.
Defensive duo Aoife Mannion and Louise Quinn are the big ones, with both regular starters. Quinn missed the first play-off double-header against Georgia with a hip problem and has not yet returned to club action with Birmingham City. Mannion was absent from the Manchester United squad for their WSL win over Leicester City at the weekend.
are reporting a “muscle related injury which will keep her out for a couple of weeks”. have contacted both United and Birmingham for updates. Another defensive centurion, Diane Caldwell, has been sidelined since a back issue ruled her out of the Georgia games, but she has slipped down the pecking order under Gleeson of late.
Lucy Quinn, who has been overlooked for recent squads, is facing a lengthy spell out after undergoing ankle surgery. Squad player Ellen Molloy has been another injury concern over the last 10 days. The Sheffield United youngster went off in her side’s draw with Portsmouth last Sunday week, with the club tweeting, “Molloy can’t continue but is able to walk off after appearing to tweak something playing the ball out.
” She missed the Blades’ defeat to Sunderland last weekend and understands the setback to be a slight hamstring strain. The Kilkenny native only just made her international comeback in the second leg against Georgia at Tallaght Stadium. But Gleeson has been boosted by other players returning from injury over the last fortnight or so.
The availability of midfield duo Ruesha Littlejohn and Megan Connolly is welcomed after Achilles and hamstring setbacks respectively. One week after Littlejohn made her first appearance of the season for London City Lionesses, Megan Campbell followed suit with a second-half showing against Durham on Sunday. The long-throw specialist had been sidelined with an ankle injury.
Chloe Mustaki has also been back in action for Bristol City after a lengthy lay-off. While Jamie Finn and Jess Ziu are out with ACL ruptures, Tara O’Hanlon is among the long-term absentees edging closer to a return. The Manchester City youngster was in and around the squad against Georgia as she looks to add to her two caps after a double whammy of significant hamstring injuries.
O’Hanlon was at training for “exposure and familiarisation” and watched the 3-0 win from the bench, suggesting imminent involvement. She hasn’t yet played for City, so this squad could come too soon but O’Hanlon is a player with a “high-potential future,” as Gleeson said. In time, the left-sided talent could release Katie McCabe and allow her to play further forward.
Saoirse Noonan is among others pushing for a recall as her fine goalscoring form continues at Celtic. Gleeson and the Irish management team will be hoping all selected players come through games unscathed before the squad reconvenes in Dublin on Sunday. Meanwhile, Wales boss Rhian Wilkinson is also expected to name her squad this week.
As of last Friday, 10,000 tickets had been sold for the pivotal play-off opener at Cardiff City Stadium..
