Northern Ireland ‘need to be more confident’ against Poland

Laura Rafferty, the defender for Northern Ireland, urges her team to prepare for Friday’s crucial Nations League game against Poland at Seaview.

The team’s February defeat to the Euro 2025-bound Poles leaves Tanya Oxtoby’s side with a 2-0 defeat away in February, heading into their final two Group B1 matches three points clear of the leaders with victories at home against Bosnia-Herzogovina and Romania, as well as an away draw against the Romanians.

Northern Ireland could potentially win the group playing Bosnia-Herzegovina in Zenica on Tuesday if they beat Poland, which would give them control over their own destiny.

We talked about our goals from the beginning, and we now know what we need to do in the final two games.

“I believe we need to be more confident [than we did in the defeat by Poland] before going into this game.” We only want a win from this enormous game because it is so important to us.

We’re just dissecting their [Poland’s] games, they say, and we’re looking forward to it. What you do to exploit a team’s strengths and weaknesses is what you do.

On Monday, 18-year-old goalkeeper Kate Smith joined fellow stopper Abbie Smith, Aimee Kerr, Abi Sweetlove, Keri Halliday, and Kascie Weir as the latest youngster to be selected for the NI squad.

Rafferty, one of the squad’s more experienced players, claims that the camp atmosphere is “upbeat” ahead of the double-header, and that the young players are blending in well.

We have a lot of young players who are coming in and thoroughly enjoying it, according to the manager.

The former Chelsea, Brighton, and Southampton player just finished her first season with the Rangers squad. She also spent time on loan with Bristol City.

Her organization agonizedly lost to Hibernian on the final day of the Scottish Women’s Premier League season, but she triumphed over Glasgow City 3-0 to reach the Women’s Scottish Cup final on Sunday, adding that trophy to the Women’s Premier League Cup they won in March.

“I’ve absolutely loved every minute at Rangers,” he said. “There have been some tougher moments with the league recently than with the league.

You have to show that when you play for a club like Rangers, you want to take all three [trophies] [.

We had the opportunity to end the season high before the Glasgow City game, and we wanted to leave no regrets, despite what transpired [losing out on the league], [congratulations to Hibs].

We wanted to keep our name on the trophy because, ultimately, it was ours. We’re pleased that we succeeded.

The 29-year-old centre-back wants to improve during her second season in Scotland.