Gleeson fully focused on Wales task, not on contract situation 

Republic of Ireland head coach Eileen Gleeson. Pic: Ryan Byrne

Ireland WNT boss Eileen Gleeson has confirmed that no formal discussions have been held regarding the extension of her contract as senior head coach.

The Dubliner's contract runs until the end of Ireland’s involvement in Euro 2025 - which might be as early as next month should the Girls in Green miss out on qualification via a play-off against Wales.

Though Gleeson insists she does not want to think about it as she ‘keeps all of her brain power’ for the two-legged affair against the Welsh.

Her previous role as head of Women and Girls' Football is now served by Hannah Dingley, who was appointed in April.

“Marc Canham and I speak all the time and we have a really positive relationship,” Gleeson replied when asked if there had been any dialogue with the FAI regarding her contract as head coach.

“There’s been no discussions around the contract and I want to keep all focus…I don’t have the capacity to focus on anything else, only Wales. That’s all I think about. There’s no formal discussions, no.

“I’m not really thinking about myself and what the games are [for me]. I’m thinking about the play-offs and I’m thinking about getting the players ready.

“After the games, then we’ll be able to talk about conversations around that. But I’m trying to keep all my brain power for these games.” 

The two-legged clash against Wales will evoke memories of her first game in the job as permanent manager - also against Wales, even though it resulted in a 2-0 friendly defeat at Tallaght Stadium.

“I’m thoroughly enjoying it,” she replied when asked about her reign so far.

“I love the role, but for me, it’s full focus on the play-offs. I think about nothing else, only these games against Wales.

“I want to continue. I love being in the job. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and that’s the way I want it to continue. But right now the focus is on getting these two games done.” 

Gleeson named her squad for the play-offs this morning with Louise Quinn ruled out with a hip injury. Also absent are Ellen Molloy (hamstring), Lucy Quinn (ankle), Jamie Finn (knee) and Jess Ziu.

Though there are returns to the fold for Megan Campbell and Ruesha Littlejohn. Aoife Mannion has also been selected despite being rated as a doubt. Out of season Julie-Ann Russell has been maintaining her fitness with Salthill Devon’s boys team in the meantime.

The Girls in Green will be confident that they can get over the line against a Wales side who squeaked past Slovakia 3-2 on aggregate in the previous round.

Ireland, meanwhile, thumped minnows Georgia 9-0 over two legs and also prepared for the play-offs with a European qualification group that included teams such as England, France and Sweden.

“It’s a very evenly matched tie,” Gleeson added on the Welsh test. “In terms of squad profile and the level that girls play at, it’s nearly identical. They’re a strong team.

“We played them in February and they beat us well. We know they’ve got strength in depth and some really strong key players like ourselves. I think it’s going to be a very evenly-matched tie.

“We had a really strong group that we were part of in the qualifying group. There’s lots of learning in that.

“We learned where our limitations were against the level of those teams but we also learned how to be really resilient, hard to beat and difficult to break down. These are really important learnings for us.”