Captain Simone Magill expects Northern Ireland to “bounce back” in Tuesday’s crucial Nations League game in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Her side’s hopes of automatic qualification to League A were ended in Friday’s 4-0 loss at home to Poland.
However, Tanya Oxtoby’s side are still in a strong position to secure a promotion play-off in Zenica.
A win or draw would secure second place and a play-off spot, however a defeat would open up a number of permutations as NI and Bosnia-Herzegovina would be level on points.
“We’ve spoken about learning as a group and we are finding ourselves in positions where we are learning,” Magill said.
“This is a really good opportunity to finish the campaign strong.
“We spoke at the start of this campaign about our aim and that’s still very much in our control.
“If we can go and get the result we want then that’s been a success for us.”
Magill scored two late goals as Northern Ireland defeated the Bosnians 3-2 in the reverse fixture in February.
Selver Hodzic’s side were also beaten twice in Euro 2025 qualifying last year, and Magill said her youthful side have to “use those moments” to “carry us through”.
“No game at this level is easy, especially away from home. We’ve faced Bosnia quite a few times and we’ve had positive outcomes.
“It would be a special feeling [to secure a promotion play-off].
“We want to be in the mix again for major tournaments, and getting promotion to League A would start to get us back in the mix and get us closer to being back where we want to be.”
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