Megan Campbell: 'We’re friends but you cross the white line, it’s football'

Tuesday's clash against England will see Campbell come up against some familar faces.

IN THE MIXER: Megan Campbell of Republic of Ireland during the UEFA Women's European Championship qualifying group A match between France and Republic of Ireland at Stade Saint-Symphorien in Metz, France. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

There are valid reasons why Megan Campbell has collected half the caps of some within her peer group but being fit and available for tomorrow’s momentous occasion is some consolation.

Such is the collateral damage of her knee and ankle injuries that the 30-year-old was strolling around the Stade Saint-Symphorien in her tracksuit and runners while Ireland underwent the ritual of their pre-match training session last Thursday.

Campbell was back on the surface in her boots the following day, thrust into the action against France to bring defensive nous and her famous threat at the other end from throw-ins.

That was the source of Ireland’s few forays into the box chasing an equaliser and she’ll have the towel on the sidelines again for the visit of England to Lansdowne Road.

Campbell, now with London City Lionesses, following injury-ravaged spells with Manchester City and Liverpool, did enough over the half to consolidate a starting slot.

It was her 48th cap but first appearance in an Ireland shirt since the friendly against China in February 2023. Vera Pauw wasn’t prepared to take the risk of bringing her to the World Cup in Australia.

“I didn’t realise it was that long ago,” she said about her international return for the opening Euro qualifiers which ended in a 1-0 defeat.

“Some people might think ‘ah, something’s wrong’, by not training but it’s part of my schedule. They’re doing really well to manage my load.

“I had 15 minutes' notice to get myself ready to come on. No matter what, it’s going to be tough when you’re coming into the international stage and trying to step up to that level.

“There’s nothing quite like it, but you’ve just got to try and get tight, get your first contacts on the ball, grow into the game from that and be confident ultimately.

“It was easy for me to come in and assert my aggressiveness because that’s something that I have in my game and what we needed.”

Tomorrow’s clash against the Auld Enemy will carry needle too, even if Campbell will be facing some friends.

Her task upgrades from shackling the third best team in the world to the second.

She added: “I know all the girls from playing for a few different clubs around the WSL and now in the Championship.

“It’ll be nice to see them but it will be nicer at the end if hopefully the result goes in our favour.

“Some are really good friends of mine, like Chloe Kelly who I speak to quite a bit after being together at Man City.

“We’re friends off the pitch, but when it comes to game time and you cross the white line, it’s football.”

England opened their defence of their crown by drawing 1-1 against Sweden in front of 63,000 fans at Wembley.

Leah Williamson wasn’t selected despite having recovered from injury and so the captain might feature from the start in Dublin.

Sarina Wiegman, who led her native Netherlands to the title before being lured to England, may opt for the centre-back in order to regain the clean sheet record which underpinned their success.

Just twice in the last 12 matches have England not conceded, something for Ireland to take encouragement from. A first qualifier at the national stadium is expected to attract a crowd between 25,000-30,000. Single tickets were eventually released for sale by the FAI.

Eileen Gleeson’s artillery will be missing Amber Barrett. Hamstring trouble restricted her involvement against France to 10 minutes and the striker had to be assisted from the dressing-room onto the team bus.