Emma Duffy Reports from Aviva Stadium

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND head coach Carla Ward says her side “won’t be looking to just park the bus” as they face Belgium in their Uefa Women’s Nations League promotion/relegation playoff.

Ireland welcome the Belgians to Aviva Stadium for tomorrow night’s first leg [KO 7pm, RTÉ2] before the return tie in Leuven next Tuesday, with League A status the prize.

And Ward insists the Girls In Green — ranked seven places below the Euro 2025 participants — will look to be brave and go toe to toe.

“I always say I think you have to have a belief and a mentality and a confidence so you can compete against anybody,” she told her pre-match press conference.

“Belgium have got some unbelievable qualities. At the Euros, they were by far the best transition team there and we have to be very, very aware of their qualities, but I believe we’ve got quality.

“We’ve got an abundance of quality within our ranks. We have to believe, we have to be confident, we have to be assured that we can go and play with the ball because I do believe that and I think these guys do as well. So, yeah, we won’t be looking to just park the bus, so to speak.”

Katie McCabe, meanwhile, says Ireland have learned from their last two-legged playoff, last December’s defeat to Wales, as they return to Lansdowne Road for the first time since.

Eileen Gleeson was in charge for that double-header, and departed after failure to qualify for Euro 2025.

“Maybe we took a more cautious approach in that first leg, which didn’t really benefit us,” the captain, in line to win her 100th cap on Tuesday, said. “I don’t know whether that was mentality, it was how we were feeling. There’s lots of variables.

“I think these nerves kind of come in naturally, you’re playing in games that have a lot of magnitude and a lot riding on it.

“When we were away in Wales maybe we did kind of play a bit reserved but I think the learnings from that is we’re now at home so we can hopefully take the game to Belgium.”

Anna Patten is suspended tomorrow night, but Ireland have an otherwise fit squad to choose from. With number one goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan ruled out, Grace Moloney or Sophie Whitehoue will deputise — most likely regular second-choice Moloney.

“We’re set on it now,” Ward said of her starting XI. “When you come into camp you always have an idea of what it potentially looks like and then people change your mind in training.

“You try different combinations and then something clicks and yesterday that happened and we were very clear come the end of training yesterday what that looked like. We’re ready to go and we’re positive we’ve got the right selection.”

McCabe urged supporters to turn out, with over 15,000 tickets snapped up as of Monday and little change since: “We need you,” said the Arsenal Champions League winner.

“We know how important the fans are for us. Whether that’s at Tallaght or here in the Aviva Stadium. Their energy and the atmosphere they bring for us gives us that extra lease of life on the pitch.

“I urge everyone to come out and give us a hand and get behind us because we’re going to need them tomorrow night for sure.”