Forward star Alessia Russo spoke to the media ahead of England’s upcoming UEFA Women’s EURO Qualifying meeting with the Republic of Ireland this Friday night at Carrow Road.

The Lionesses currently occupy third position in Group A3, with a tally of seven points. The England side trail group leaders, France, by two points, whilst just one goal makes up the difference between themselves and Sweden in second place.

Speaking in regards to the goal of qualification, Russo confirmed the obvious- “Of course that’s what we want [qualification]. We want to be qualified, and look forward to that and have a focus on it. This group is tough, but ultimately that’s the goal.”

Upcoming meetings with Republic of Ireland and Sweden prove pivotal for the Lionesses, as they currently face the risk of losing out on automatic qualification. Losses to either side could mean that England may fail to break into the top half of the group, meaning they will face the winners of League B in a further bout of qualifiers.

Speaking in regards to whether this threat will hinder upcoming performances, Russo was firm in the contrary:

“We know what we want to do as a group, we know our standards, we know what we want out of this camp. I think that’s all that matters going into the group. Like I said, it’s a top group, and the teams in it are all very tough and all very different.

We know what we can do, and what we can control to hopefully come out on top.”

Despite the fact that the Republic of Ireland are yet to garner a point in the group stages, Russo was adamant that the Lionesses will not show any complacency when gearing up to take on the Girls in Green.

“They are a really tough side to come up against. Different to the likes of Sweden and France- they maybe play a bit deeper. We find it a little bit more difficult to break them down, but that’s what it’s like in a lower block.

They are tough, they’re aggressive, and very passionate. I think we felt that in the away game against them. Definitely not an easy test coming up.”

England will face the Republic of Ireland this coming Friday at Carrow Road, the home of Norwich Football Club. Proceedings will head underway at 20:00 BST, and can be watched live on ITV.