The Republic of Ireland's 6-0 win in Tbilisi makes tonight's Euro 2025 play-off semi-final second leg a formality, a runaround under the lights and a chance to have a look at some fringe players.Last week Eileen Gleeson was sincere in her warnings about complacency, but the reality is her team were pretty poor against Georgia four days ago and still cruised to victory.
The gulf is just that big.That said, Israeli coach Iris Antman organised the minnows well at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, and the final scoreline wasn't a true reflection of their efforts.Only Katie McCabe's penalty separated the sides after a dour first half, but as Georgian limbs tired, the goals began to flow.
Five more Irish efforts (three in the last eight minutes) coated an underwhelming performance with a thick layer of polish.Ireland go into tonight's second leg knowing they are heading for a play-off final in the winter against either Wales or Slovakia.
There's a core of players guaranteed to start those games, provided they are fit, but others are scrapping for an opportunity.This fixture will give those on the fringes a chance to stake a claim.Gleeson hinted that she'll hold back the least experienced members of her squad until later in the game when she said: "With a strong start we'd be hoping to get some young players or less experienced players in to a nice environment where they can feel free to play then."So we'll have changes to the starting line-up, but nothing too radical.Abbie Larkin did her chances no harm a few days ago.