Women's Premiership: League start will help international players - NI captain Marissa Callaghan

Marissa Callaghan has won 55 caps and scored six goals for Northern Ireland Women

Northern Ireland captain Marissa Callaghan believes the Women's Premiership getting under way will be a major boost to the international players taking part.

There had been concerns the league may not go ahead but it started last week in a new, condensed 10-match format.

The NI women's team face the Faroe Islands in a Euro qualifier on 18 September.

"We are just happy to have the league," Callaghan told Sportsound Extra Time.

"At the start of the year we didn't think we were going to have anything so when we got the go-ahead to have the shorter league the players were delighted.

"That was especially the case for the international players because we do have such a big match coming up. It will be good to get some league games behind us before we go there.

"We have four games to play between now and Christmas. They are all massive games for us and winnable games, too. Our target is to win all four and hopefully go through to the play-offs."

Northern Ireland are fourth in qualifying Group C after picking up two points from their opening four games.

The match away to the Faroes, the side's first outing in 10 months, will be followed by a trip to Belarus on 27 October - and Callaghan said the mood in the camp is very positive.

"We were in training together three times a week and when the club training started we narrowed it down to twice a week," she explained.

"There have been massive improvements over the last few months amongst the home-based players. There is a real buzz around the squad at the minute and we really can't wait to go away for these matches."

The opening round of fixtures saw no shock results, with holders Linfield - aiming for a fifth consecutive title - beating Crusaders 2-0, Sion Swifts hammering Derry City 6-0 and Callaghan's Cliftonville losing 2-0 to Glentoran.

The Reds take on Derry City on Wednesday night at Solitude and Callaghan said she and her team-mates are confident despite last week's loss.

"It was tough to take the defeat but we did come away from the match happy with the work-rate that we put in," she added.

"Glentoran were just a bit too strong for us but we did work hard and we have a lot of positives to take from it. I think every club has strengthened and we are looking forward to taking on Derry."

In Wednesday night's other fixtures, Glentoran play Linfield in a Big Two derby at the Oval and the Crues are at home to the Swifts.