Outgoing England boss Lee Carsley says it is important that England respect Ireland ahead of their game on Sunday afternoon.
England have almost guaranteed promotion to Nations League A after their 3-0 victory over Greece in Athens last night. They must beat Ireland this weekend to confirm their place. Ireland, on the other hand, have avoided relegation to Nations League C and will face a play-off in March next year.
England vs. Ireland is never a dead rubber, but some might assume that the game on Sunday between the sides is a glorified friendly. There is also the suggestion that England will field a fringe side against Heimir Hallgrimsson's Ireland.
However, Carsley, who represented the Republic on 40 occasions as a player, believes it is important that Ireland are respected when they visit Wembley this weekend.
“I think we’ve put ourselves in a better position than we were before the game, but we are in no way celebrating at this point,” Carsley said on Friday
“It’s important that we pay Ireland the respect that they deserve, and we look forward to a sold-out Wembley to hopefully get a good result.”
Lee Carsley just sat on the Irish bench by mistake!
Old habits die hard...#beINNATIONSLEAGUE #IREvENG pic.twitter.com/ilmW7z5hnH
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) September 7, 2024
In the other Nations League game, the Irish team beat Finland for the second time in this campaign after another 1-0 victory at the Aviva Stadium. However, it wasn't all plain sailing.
Ireland struggled to keep possession in the first half, allowing Finland to take control and create the majority of chances. Despite this, Mikey Johnston’s excellent cross found Evan Ferguson in the Finland box, and the striker made no mistake, scoring just before halftime to give Ireland the lead.
Finland were awarded a penalty in the second half, but Caoimhin Kelleher produced a brilliant save to deny them.
Hallgrimsson, on the other hand, believes that the Irish team is under no illusion that they need to improve on their win over Finland.
"But we know we need to work a lot as a unit, as a group, to progress, because if we want to qualify for the World Cup, we need to beat teams that are higher-ranked than us and get points from them. With this performance, I would say we probably wouldn't," added the Icelander
"But it was enough today, and that's good. We'll build on that.
"It's good to have a win for the spirit, and I think these players need to experience that as often as they can.
"But we're under no illusion that we need to improve."
Ireland and England takes place on Sunday at 5:45 pm.
