World Cup Qualifier
10.04.2018 at 19:00 - Tallaght Stadium
The WNT face the Netherlands at Tallaght Stadium as they look to take more points off the European Champions after their 0-0 draw in November.
Ireland are currently unbeaten in their qualifying campaign, second in the Group Three table, and level on points with tomorrows opponents after the 2-1 win over Slovakia on Friday.
There was a record 3501 attendance for the win over Slovakia at Tallaght Stadium and Head Coach Bell hopes the crowd turns out once again to get behind the team.
"It is going to be tough, no question about that. They are the European Champions and despite the result in November, you look at their results over the past year, it is a huge task," said Bell.
"They will be gunning for us as well. We saw them put seven past Northern Ireland on Friday and they have got so many threats all across the park.
"We have got to be in the game though. We need the crowd to come out once again and get behind every tackle and every shot for the entire 90 minutes. They were brilliant on Friday and we will need them once again to get a result tomorrow."
The WNT Head Coach faces a selection headache as both Leanne Kiernan and Amber Barrett scored against Slovakia on Friday. Aine O Gorman trained with the squad at Tallaght Stadium today but will not be match fit for tomorrows game due to illness.
"We are extremely stretched at the moment. We have got very few options with the injury situation but the players proved on Friday that they can cope with it," Bell continued.
"We have got a couple of variations on how we are going to play and I will have to look at it tonight to see what we will start with. I have been extremely impressed with the players in training as it has been a long week for them with the two games.
"They have got to recover and ready for the game as we can have no passengers tomorrow. They are the best team in world womens football at the moment so every player has to leave everything out there on the pitch to potentially cause a sensation."
TEAM NEWS: Aine O Gorman and Claire O Riordan will not be fit for the game with illness. Galway WFC winger Aislinn Meaney has been brought into the squad to replace Tyler Toland who fractured her wrist earlier in the week.
Republic of Ireland WNT Squad
Goalkeepers: Marie Hourihan (Manchester City), Amanda Budden (Cork City), Amanda McQuillan (Shelbourne)
Defenders: Sophie Perry-Campbell (Brighton and Hove Albion), Diane Caldwell (SC Sand), Louise Quinn (Arsenal), Niamh Fahey (Bordeaux), Niamh Prior (Shelbourne).
Midfielders: Megan Connolly (Florida State University), Karen Duggan (Peamount United), Denise O Sullivan (NC Courage), Roma McLaughlin (Shelbourne), Amy Boyle-Carr (Sion Swifts), Aislinn Meaney (Galway WFC).
Attackers: Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Leanne Kiernan (Shelbourne), Amber Barrett (Peamount United), Isibeal Atkinson (Shelbourne), Ruesha Littlejohn (Celtic), Aine OGorman (Peamount United), Claire O Riordan (Wexford Youths), Dearbhaile Beirne (UCD Waves)
FIFA 2019 World Cup Qualifying Group Three - Fixtures
April 10: Republic of Ireland v The Netherlands, Tallaght Stadium, KO 7pm
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