Kenny Shiels: NI boss says England game will 'sit very nicely' with Euro play-off preparations

Northern Ireland manager Kenny Shiels says his team's friendly against England on 23 February will "sit very nicely" as part of preparations for their Euro 2022 play-off in April.

Shiels insists his players will not be overawed going into the St George's Park game against the Euro 2022 hosts.

"Some people would think we're maybe out of our depth. That's not our feeling at all," Shiels said.

The game with the 2019 World Cup semi-finalists will be shown live on BBC.

England finished fourth at the 2019 World Cup and are sixth in the Fifa rankings.

Northern Ireland are 49th in the latest Fifa ratings but have been on a steady upward curve over the last year, helped by four concluding wins in their Euro 2022 group which saw them pip Wales for the play-off spot.

England beat Norway to reach the semi-finals of the 2019 Women's World Cup in France before losing to eventual winners USA

'Playing England a great achievement'

"They want that challenge of this stage of their lives and who better to have it against than England who are one of the top four teams in the world and a major player in the women's game," added Shiels of the friendly at the Burton Upon Trent venue.

"For us to play England is a great achievement and I don't know if that would have happened if we hadn't been so successful.

"It's testament to how the girls have done and the girls see it as a viable preparation game for them."

Shiels added that his side are "thirsty" to take the scalp of the Euro 2022 hosts.

"We need to be looking at how we can get better and by playing England, I feel that will help us to do that.

"We will be without the ball for a considerable period against this opposition but the learning that goes on within that and how we improve from that will be quite significant."

Shiels squad have trained through pandemic

Barring the two-week period in and around Christmas and the New Year when elite sport in Northern Ireland had to stop because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Shiels has been working with his players since last March.

"It's been non stop apart from Boxing Day to maybe about the 9th of January.

"We're back and at it again and the girls are really up for the new challenges that lie ahead so I thought 'we'll throw in England and see what happens'," he joked.

The Euro play-offs draw will take place on 5 March with the two-legged ties scheduled between 5-14 April.

Northern Ireland's opposition will be either Switzerland, Russia, Portugal, Ukraine or Czech Republic.

"They are all top drawer teams but we look forward to the games with some relish," added the Northern Ireland boss.

"The most difficult opponent would probably be Switzerland who have a fantastic team but we can beat any of them.

"Russia will be difficult, Portugal, Ukraine, Czech Republic…they are all difficult but we are ready to meet that task head on."