UEFA Women's Nations League Poland versus Northern Ireland kick off 19:45 Fri 21 Feb 2025

Tanya Oxtoby's side are in Group B1 for the forthcoming Nations League

Northern Ireland manager Tanya Oxtoby says nurturing young talent is a priority for her after teenage striker Kascie Weir was called into the squad for the Nations League opener against Poland in Gdansk.

The 18-year-old, who plays in the Women's Premiership for Glentoran, was drafted into the squad earlier this week for the meeting with the Poles and Tuesday's encounter with Bosnia-Herzegovina at Inver Park.

Weir, who has played for NI at under-19 level, earned her first call-up after scoring seven goals for her club in 2024.

"We've spoken at length that if you're good enough the door's open and you'll get an opportunity," said Oxtoby.

"We want to provide opportunities for our young talent and Kasey coming in is another example of that."

Experienced striker Simone Magill is also happy to help develop and offer advice to young players who come into the group.

"To have a young number nine coming up and annoying me with questions is brilliant, it's exactly what I want," said the Birmingham City forward, 30.

"I want to help Kascie and any young players that are coming up as they are our future. To have them in with us now and learning what we're doing is fantastic."

'Ready to continue on our journey'

Simone Magill has been providing advice to new call-up Kascie Weir

Northern Ireland will be returning to action for the first time since losing 7-0 on aggregate to Norway in their Euro 2025 play-off late last year.

Romania complete the line-up of teams in League B1 and they will be NI's opponents in April's double header.

Promotion and relegation will be in play in the forthcoming Nations League, with the outcomes also having implications for World Cup qualifying in the next campaign.

"It's fantastic to have the group back together," added Oxtoby. "We've worked really hard over the past few days. Training has been brilliant and the girls are really excited.

"Poland have just qualified for a major tournament [Euro 2025] so we know what they're going to bring. It's going to be a great challenge for us away from home first up in this campaign.

"We're ready for it and looking forward to challenging ourselves and continuing on our journey."

Magill said the Poland match would help Northern Ireland measure the progress they have made under Oxtoby.

"We're looking forward to playing probably the strongest team in the group to see where we are at," added the striker.

"It's going to be a really tough test for us but a good opportunity to see what we've learned in the last year under Tanya and go and apply it."