NOTHING TREMBLEY ABOUT WEMBLEY

Callaghan: This team is here to play not to enjoy the scenery

MARISSA Callaghan insists Northern Ireland’s band of football sisters will “have each other’s backs” when they step out to face England.

You can get odds of 50/1 for Kenny Shiels’ side to earn a shock victory at Wembley (5.15pm kick-off).

Northern Ireland go into the World Cup qualifier in a rich vein of form, having won their last eight competitive matches including a Euro play-off against Ukraine.

They are level on points with Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses, both teams with two wins out of two in Group D.

England have been in cruise mode so far, hammering North Macedonia 8-0 and scoring 10 against Luxembourg.

They are hotly fancied to continue that winning run against Northern Ireland, but visiting captain Callaghan is confident her players won’t melt under the spotlight.

“We have had massive pressure games, especially the Faroes and Belarus games to reach the playoffs, and then the Ukraine ties,” she said.

“We do know what pressure is and how to handle it. Every qualifying game is a pressure game, and we always go out to win. There is always pressure on us, but it’s good pressure.

“We put it on ourselves because we want to do well, not only as individuals but also collectively as a group.

“We want to show people what we are about and how far we have come.”

Saturday’s game will be a massive occasion for Northern Ireland.

It will also be a poignant moment for hosts England who will play their first competitive fixture at Wembley since the stadium reopened in 2007.

Callaghan recognises the significance of the game for both sides, but insists Northern Ireland’s sole focus is on a game of football, and not the hype and pomp surrounding playing at the ‘Home of Football’.

“The staff and team are solely focused on how we will play,” she added.

“We had a special moment last month when we played at Windsor, which is a massive stadium for us. So we have to embrace this and enjoy it.

“But our sole focus is going out and performing. It shows you how far we have come as a nation that we’re playing here.”

She added: “We have this togetherness and we are a family. We fight for each other. We are underdogs and we have each other’s backs. We have always been like that.

“That’s the Northern Ireland way.”