The Republic of Ireland women’s U19 side kick-off the UEFA Championship, elite qualifying phase tomorrow against Slovakia at the Heilbronn Stadium in Germany and Irish captain, Louise Quinn believes that a winning start to the group could put the Irish into contention for the UEFA Championship Finals in Belarus.

The Irish will compete with group hosts, Germany, Russia and Slovakia for one qualifying position for the UEFA Championship Finals which take place in Belarus this summer. The Irish will face Slovakia in the opening game of the elite qualifying phase which kicks-off at 1.30 (local time).

Irish captain, Peamount’s Louise Quinn says that the squad will be eager to get the group off to a winning start to give them the best possible chance of qualification, “On Paper, many will say that we will start these qualifiers with the easiest game against Slovakia but the squad are fully aware that this is not the case if recent results are anything to go by. While we defeated Slovakia in last year’s qualifiers, they have undoubtedly developed into a tough, technical team and they qualified for this round by getting a draw against a very strong England team in the last qualifying phase.”

“While, we are playing two of Europe’s strongest teams in Germany and Russia, it is vital that we take one game at a time and at the moment, all eyes are on Slovakia. It will be a huge boost for the whole squad if we were to get the campaign off to a winning start and hopefully continue that run into the final two games. We have a very young squad but over the past week, we have been in excellent form in training and are fully positive for the week ahead,” said Quinn.

“We were all disappointed that we narrowly lost both games in the double international friendly to Switzerland last week but we came through the first qualifying phase with a 100% record, scoring 11 goals in three games; a team doesn’t become bad overnight and I am sure that victory over Slovakia will give us a great deal of confidence as we look to upset the odds here in Germany,” added the Irish skipper.

UEFA Championship – Elite Qualifying Phase fixtures
Thursday, April 23rd
Republic of Ireland v Slovakia
Heilbronn Stadium
Kick-off: 1.30pm (local time)

Saturday, April 25th
Russia v Republic of Ireland
Walldorf Stadium
Kick-off: 2.45pm (local time)

Tuesday, April 28th
Germany v Republic of Ireland
Viernheim
Kick-off: 11.00am (local time)

Republic of Ireland squad
Aisling Dyer – Stella Maris
Susan Hackett - Stella Maris
Louise Quinn - Peamount FC
Megan Campbell - St. Francis
Anna McCormack - Salthill Devon
Niamh Nolan - St. Francis
Rebecca Walsh - Salthill Devon
Niamh Mulcahy - Aisling Annacotty
Karen Duggan - Piltown FC
Amanda Parkes - Wilton Utd.
Ciara Grant - Lagan Harps
Ciara O’Brien - Tramore AFC
Amy Ryan - Stella Maris
Zoe Doherty - Cardonagh
Gillian McDonnell - Dundalk City WFC
Lillie Billson - Arsenal FC
Sinead Crotty - Connecticut Utd. FC
Lucy Hannon – Salthill Devon