Megan Connolly confident Ireland's evolution gathering pace

Megan Connolly is confident the Republic of Ireland's evolution is gathering pace as they look towards Tuesday's friendly against Wales at Tallaght Stadium.

Connolly was excellent against world No 14-ranked Italy in Florence on Friday evening, shielding her back four in a disciplined, deep-lying midfield role. There were plenty of positives to take from the nil-all draw, not least how slick Ireland looked in possession, particularly considering Eileen Gleeson made a number of changes to her starting XI.

They've not been afraid to air a collective desire to play more expansively compared to the rigid, defensive approach under Vera Pauw. Now it's time for Ireland to prove they can achieve big results with a changed style.

"We have players now who can adapt to different formations and obviously the coaching staff feel that us as a group and as players we can progress into this and test higher ranked opponents like we've done in the past," said Connolly.

"It’s kind of making a further step now, keeping another clean sheet in a back four, but push a bit higher and score more goals.

"Not everything is going to go right, but everyone is trying to apply themselves as best they could, and yeah we performed well in this new kind of formation."

Gleeson has six wins and one draw from her seven games to date. The Italians were the best team Ireland have played since last summer's World Cup, but bigger tests lie ahead.

The Euro 2025 qualifiers begin in April, with the Girls in Green set to be housed in a four-team group alongside three of the top 16 teams in Europe.

"There is a lot to build on and I'm proud of everyone."

"I think there is loads we can take [from the Italy game]," added Connolly.

"Watching it you can see we've changed a bit of