Northern Ireland manager Tanya Oxtoby admits she wants her side to have “two or three” home venues they feel comfortable with ahead of welcoming Norway to Inver Park for their Euro 2025 Play-Off next week.
Despite having made Windsor Park their home ground over the past few years, moving away from their previous home of Seaview, next Friday’s first leg will be played in Larne due to the national stadium’s unavailability as Linfield play there the following day.
Oxtoby’s side are no strangers to being nomads of sorts, facing Portugal at Mourneview Park in June, but it is undoubtedly a disappointment that their biggest game of the year will be at a smaller venue than Windsor Park.
However, the manager is opting to look at the positives, both in what it means for the clash with the Norwegians with a place in Switzerland next summer on the line and longer term for their future success.
“I think it’s important to have two or three bases you’re comfortable and familiar with,” said the manager, who earlier recalled Kerry Beattie to her squad as the only change to the panel that overcame Croatia in the previous round.
“It’s something we’ve been working on in the background but sometimes you can’t control things like this, it is what it is, but we’re going to be training at Inver Park all week and we’ll be comfortable come Friday.
“But, yes, it is important to have venues that we feel gives us a home advantage but I also feel it’s important to have two or three of those just to make sure no matter what is thrown at you, you’re ready to adapt and adjust and you’re comfortable with what’s needed.
“We have to play where we need to play. Windsor Park, we want that to be our home and for it to be somewhere teams fear going to play, and I think we’re getting that now. It’s a great opportunity to play at a venue that this group hasn’t played at yet.
“The dimensions of the pitch will help us a bit and it’s about making that work for us. But we’re not going to get away from what we want to do, we’ll do that wherever we play and we have to do that away from home as well. We had a site visit to Norway’s venue, so it’s about being prepared for both games.”
There is no question that if Northern Ireland do manage to overcome Norway and qualify for back-to-back European Championships then it will be a massive shock.
Two years ago the Norwegians were 4-1 winners at Euro 2022 when the two sides met and boast a host of global stars, such as Caroline Graham Hansen, Ada Hegerberg, Guro Reiten, Ingrid Syrstad Engen and Frida Maanum.
With 29 places between the two nations in the world rankings – Norway are 16th and Northern Ireland are 45th – it feels like there is only one winner in this tie, but Oxtoby is confident that if they continue on their current path then they can be the ones headed to Switzerland.
“I’m used to being the underdog,” grins Oxtoby.
“We have spoken about not getting wrapped up in the occasion. We’ve got two games that are continuing us as a squad on our journey together. We want to be playing at major tournaments, so to be playing against teams like Norway, who have been there and done it numerous times, gives us a great opportunity for us to learn where we are at.
“We’re embracing that challenge, I know the girls are up for it.
“We will have to do things quicker, with a lot more purpose and intent, but we’re not going to move away from who we are and what we are doing. It’s another great challenge for the group and we’re looking forward to it as a collective.
“We respect every opponent but we don’t fear anybody. At the end of the day, any opportunity we get to play a good team is a chance for us to learn and get better.”