Republic of Ireland v Belgium: Discrimination dispute an unwanted distraction – Carla Ward

Against Belgium, the Republic of Ireland will compete for a place in League One, a move that will improve their standings for the 2027 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

The Belgians are ranked 20th in the FIFA women’s world rankings, seven places ahead of the Irish.

Ward is missing first-choice goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan, who will miss the two-legged match due to a knee problem.

Grace Moloney and Sophie Whitehouse have played regularly for Sunderland and Charlton Athletic in WSL 2 and Ward believes there is a “big question mark” over who will start in Friday’s first leg at the Aviva Stadium.

“Grace and Sophie are doing well from a data point of view, they are in second place in WSL 2 at the moment,” she explained.

“They play and they perform and they’re completely different. Honestly, that hasn’t been decided yet.” [who will start]”There are some conversations that need to be had.”

Former Aston Villa boss Ward has been boosted by the return to fitness of Denise O’Sullivan, who came on for the final 20 minutes of the North Carolina Courage’s 4-1 win over Bay FC at the weekend, her first game since suffering a knee injury in August.

“To have her back is fantastic not just on the pitch, but off the pitch, she is fantastic,” Ward said of the 125-cap midfielder.

“On the court, I would say she is one of the best players I have ever worked with as a professional and in everything she does.

“Losing Denise would be devastating. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have her back.”