Cliftonville Ladies defender Kelsie Burrows and Aberdeen Women striker Kerry Beattie are both out of the Northern Ireland squad for this month’s UEFA Women’s Nations League games against Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Northern Ireland senior women’s team manager Tanya Oxtoby revealed today that both Burrows and Beattie have picked up injuries and have had to withdraw from the squad ahead of the two UWNL encounters.
The pair will be replaced in the panel by experienced Glentoran Women midfielder Nadene Caldwell and her club team-mate and Under-19 international striker Kascie Weir. It is Weir’s first call-up to the senior squad.
The Northern Ireland boss said: “It’s disappointing not to have Kelsie and Kerry join the squad, however it’s great to have Nadene back. She has worked really hard to recover from her injury. She is one of our leaders, so it’s really great to be able to bring her back in.”
Caldwell, who turned 34 last month, has 87 caps and one international goal to date. Her last appearance for her country was against Bosnia and Herzegovina at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park last July. She came on as a substitute in that Women’s Euro 2025 qualifier, which Northern Ireland won by two goals to nil.
The midfielder missed the tail end of last season with a heel injury, but has now fully recovered after five months of rehabilitation work.
Oxtoby revealed 18-year-old Weir will join up with the squad tonight after flying in from Albania where she was due to play with the U19s in Euro qualifiers this week.
She said: “Kascie is a player we have been monitoring for a while. I got to see her in two in-house games between the seniors and the U19s and she was really impressive.
“It represents another great progression for us in terms of the youth pathway and the players we are bringing through.”
Teenager Weir played 22 times for Glentoran Women in the NIFL Women’s Premiership last season, scoring seven goals.
Northern Ireland are preparing for the first of the upcoming UWNL games, against Poland in Gdansk on Friday, in Leicester.
Coaches Laura Bassett and Izzy Christiansen, both former England internationals, have joined the regular coaching staff to put the players through their paces.
“It’s great to have Laura and Izzy around to share their international experience and knowledge with the group. We are always trying to add to the players’ knowledge and specialist coaches coming in can be really helpful,” the manager pointed out.
The Northern Ireland squad will be training at Leicester City’s training ground up until Wednesday when they will fly out to Poland.
Oxtoby further said: “It’s great to have the group back together and continuing our development as a squad.
“It will be a great challenge against Poland. They are a much improved team and on the up at the moment, but it’s an opportunity for us to challenge ourselves again.”
Northern Ireland will begin their UWNL League B Group 1 campaign against top seeds Poland in Gdansk Stadium on Friday (7.45pm kick-off GMT).
Oxtoby’s side, who are the second seeds in the group, will then face third seeds Bosnia and Herzegovina at Larne’s Inver Park on Tuesday 25 February (7pm). Romania are the other team in B1.
Tickets are still available for the home game against the Bosnians at irishfa.com/tickets.
