2023 World Cup qualifiers: Rachel McLaren replaces injured Rebecca Holloway in NI squad
- Published
Women's World Cup 2023 qualifiers : England v Northern Ireland & Northern Ireland v Austria |
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Venues: Wembley Stadium & Seaview Dates: Saturday, 23 October & Tuesday, 26 October |
Coverage: Text commentary on BBC Sport website & app of England v NI; Watch NI v Austria live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website and app with live text commentary |
Birmingham City defender Rebecca Holloway has withdrawn from Northern Ireland's squad for the World Cup qualifiers with England and Austria through injury.
Uncapped Crusaders Strikers player Rachel McLaren has replaced Holloway.
The 19-year-old, who has represented NI at underage level and can play in defence and midfield, trained with the senior squad on Tuesday.
NI play England at Wembley on Saturday before hosting Austria on Tuesday.
Everton forward Simone Magill had already pulled out of the England game due to a family bereavement.
The withdrawals of Magill and Holloway mean Kenny Shiels has no WSL players in his squad for the first time since taking over as manager in 2019.
However in a boost to Shiels, Crusaders forward Emily Wilson has been passed fit to play after picking up a knock.
England and Austria, the first and second seeds in Group D respectively, won their opening two qualifiers in September as NI beat Luxembourg and Latvia.