| Dates: Friday 1 and Tuesday 5 December Venues: Loro Borici Stadium, Shkoder and Windsor Park, Belfast Kick-offs: 16:00 and 18:00 GMT |
| Coverage: Watch Albania v Northern Ireland on BBC iPlayer, website & app; watch NI v Republic on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, website & app |
Northern Ireland boss Tanya Oxtoby has challenged her players to deliver a “90-minute performance” in Friday’s Women’s Nations League trip to Albania.
Oxtoby’s side go into the Albania game and Tuesday’s home match against the Republic of Ireland with promotion and relegation both still a possibility.
With four points from four games, they are a point off second-placed Hungary.
“We’ve been a bit hit and miss with making sure we put a 90-minute performance together,” said Oxtoby.
“We need to go over there and make sure we put in a 90-minute performance.”
Having failed to qualify for this year’s Women’s World Cup, which led to Oxtoby succeeding Kenny Shiels as manager in August, Northern Ireland targeted a top-two finish and promotion from Group B1 of the inaugural Women’s Nations League.
However, while the Republic have sailed through the campaign with four straight wins to secure top spot, NI have managed just one win, at home to Albania in September.
Taking one point from their double-header against Hungary last month sees Oxtoby’s side needing a strong finish to the campaign to keep alive their hopes of earning a play-off which would offer them a chance of joining the Republic in moving up to League A.
But while the Republic game, which will see NI play at Windsor Park for just the third time, is attracting a lot of interest, Oxtoby insists her players are not looking past Friday’s encounter against winless Albania in Shkoder.
“We know that the Republic game is going to be a great moment for the women’s game,” added the Australian.
“That’s great, but we have to go to Albania first and do the business. ‘Be positive’ is what we spoke about throughout that whole [training] session [on Monday].
“Be brave, be positive and we need, to like I said, put in a 90-minute performance.”
Furness to work with Under-19s during injury
Northern Ireland go into the Albania and Republic fixtures without record scorer Rachel Furness, who has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.
However, Oxtoby revealed that the Bristol City midfielder will be involved with the squad in a non-playing capacity over the next week.
“It is [a big blow],” Oxtoby said of the 35-year-old’s injury.
“Her experience and what she brings to this group is unquestionable. She will be in and around it towards the end of the week. That’s fantastic for us and she’s also going to do some work from a coaching perspective with our Under-19s as well.
“That shows how important she is long-term to our set-up and she’s definitely going to be a miss on the pitch for us.”
