TODAY Northern Ireland face Bosnia-Herzegovina in their second Euro 2025 qualifying game.
Manager Tanya Oxtoby will miss the game through illness, meaning Stuart McLaren will be in charge in Zenica.
Northern Ireland are looking to bounce back after a disappointing draw against Malta, who are ranked 87th in the world.
Speaking ahead of the game captain Marissa Callaghan stated; “The camp is good. We’ve been preparing all week after being disappointed with how Friday went against Malta.
“I think we did enough and should have gotten a good result, but we are focused on this game and we can’t wait to get out there and try to get a good result.
“We started off really well against Malta but we need to keep that momentum going for a longer period of time, we think we can go and get the result we want.
“We know it wasn’t good enough in the final third, and that’s something we’ve worked a lot on here, and hopefully we can go out and finish it off.
“It’s nice to get a little bit of sunshine, we haven’t had a lot of it at home, but we’re looking forward to the game and that’s the only focus for us.
“I’m sure Bosnia will come out and give us a game which will hopefully open us space for us to exploit, but we have to focus on our own processes and look forward to getting out there.”
Reading striker Lauren Wade added; “Yes, of course [there is motivation to right the wrongs from the Malta game]. We looked at the game and the first 20-25 minutes we were great, but we have to try to keep that performance for 90 minutes.
“I think from our own opinion, it’s two points dropped and we want to put that right in Bosnia.
“It’s business as usual. Hydration is key in terms of preparation out here but it’s football at the end of the day and what we do on the pitch is all that matters.
“Training has been really good and we’ve worked on the things we need to work on. Our principles of play and our strategies and we’re all looking forward to the game.
“We’ve looked at them and we are expecting quite a similar game to Malta. But we have to focus on ourselves, and hopefully we can get a performance for 90 minutes.”
The game can be watched on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Website, kick-off 14:30 BST.
