Ruesha Littlejohn lauds Eileen Gleeson’s more ‘aggressive’ approach in post-Vera Pauw era but knows it is still a work in progress

But midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn believes this Ireland side, the newer version in the post-Pauw era, has put more of a bite into their game, with Gleeson’s crew determined to show that tomorrow.

While qualification for the World Cup was a success Pauw oversaw, there was a criticism too that the girls in green were too pallid at times, so focused on defence and holding their shape that they were unable to trouble teams.

Results have poured forth from a more front-foot approach in the Nations League, five wins from five with four clean sheets. While it’s not always been pretty or convincing – Hungary, for instance, were the better side for large parts of last Friday’s game in Dublin, only losing to an own goal – Littlejohn enjoys that more aggressive side.

Does she see a difference between this team and the one which competed at the World Cup? “Definitely,” she said.

“Even at half-time on Friday, we were being told to get up (the pitch), to be more aggressive. When you play this style of football and are on the front foot more, you need to be more aggressive. You press to win the ball back, go full throttle, try not (to) worry about what’s behind you, trust them (your team-mates) to push us on and deal with what’s in behind and win balls higher up. Then you get to play in their half.

“It’s the most aggressive we’ve ever been. It’s going to take time for us to get better at that. But it’s good, it’s nice,” acknowledged the Glaswegian, who is happy to be entrusted with more duties in terms of pressing the opposition’s midfield. “You’re closer to their goal, so why wouldn’t you (enjoy it).

​“But it’s going to take time to get better at doing that. The thing is we’ve got the players in the team (to implement it). You’ve seen the likes of Katie (McCabe) and Denise (O’Sullivan) getting up the pitch. We want to get them on the ball. On Friday, we didn’t get them on the ball as much as we’d like. That’s a work in progress.”

She’s pleased to be back in the team after a brief spell away from things. “Obviously, I was out for a while there. The girls are flying. I’m delighted to be back in, it’s refreshing. Coming in, Eileen (Gleeson) has done a great job. The staff, they know their stuff. You’re coming in and learning, getting better. And you’ve got the support around you,” she said.

Some eyebrows were raised with Gleeson’s squad selection, notably the omission of Amber Barrett, whose goal secured Ireland’s place at this year’s World Cup, and Megan Campbell in favour of young home-based talent. And competition for places will only intensify when the likes of Niamh Fahey and Leanne Kiernan – still battling their way back from injury – and Jess Ziu are available again for selection.

Hence the notion that tomorrow in Belfast is no dead rubber, rather a chance to impress the incoming manager, who is going to be watching from a distance.

“There are quality players to come back in. No one is guaranteed to be in this squad now. You’ve really got to earn your place, so club football is going to be massive. Nobody is safe now, which is great,” Littlejohn added.

“The thing is, if you want to be in the team, you’re going to have to do the work. We can’t fall away, we can’t slip off, or you lose the place in the team. It’s as simple as that. Everyone needs to stay motivated if they want to stay part of the squad and stay part of the journey.”

For their part, Northern Ireland come into tomorrow’s Belfast derby on a high following Friday’s 4-0 win over Albania. It was their first victory in three games and their biggest win since a 9-0 thrashing of North Macedonia two years ago.

“Tuesday’s game is going to be a new challenge for us to take the performance from Friday and be able to apply that against a team that is in form,” said manager Tanya Oxtoby.