Northern Ireland’s progress excites coach Tanya Oxtoby

Northern Ireland women’s coach Tanya Oxtoby is delighted with the progress her side have made as they head into a crunch Euro 2025 qualifying play-off against Croatia.

Oxtoby took over from Kenny Shiels at the start of last year and has taken Northern Ireland forward, with the goal of booking their place in next summer’s European Championships.

They head to Croatia for the away leg of a play-off round on Friday, with the return leg on Tuesday.

If they can get through that they will then play Albania or Norway, with the winner making it through to the tournament in Switzerland.

“We’re really excited,” Oxtoby, who is working on the Chase Football Coaching Programme, which provides fully-funded access to coaching qualifications for individuals from low-income backgrounds across the United Kingdom, told the PA news agency.

“I remember when we first started on this journey together, qualifying for the Euros was the prize, and I feel like we’re at the pointy end of that now.

“We’re fully prepared, we’re ready to go, and it’s going to be a great challenge for us, because if you look at the placings between us, there’s not a lot.

“So it’s going to be a great double-header. We’re really excited to get back together.

“Given everything that we’ve been building in the background in terms of creating a really high performing environment since I came in, to be in this position and still winning games, whilst we’re kind of putting the building blocks in place for long-term success, I’m pretty pleased with where we’re at.

“It’s exciting times for us.”

::For more information on the Chase Football Coaching Programme, visit:
https://www.chase.co.uk/gb/en/chase-football-coaching-programme/