IRELAND INTERNATIONAL Caitlin Hayes focused on the positives after her side’s 2-0 defeat to England in Tuesday night’s Euro 2025 qualifier at the Aviva Stadium.

The visitors got both goals in the first half, with the scoreline at the break a fair reflection of their dominance.

However, Ireland slowly came back into the contest, with their rivals surviving a couple of defensive scares in the second period, struggling to cope with balls into the box and particularly substitute Megan Campbell’s long throws.

Celtic player Hayes admitted to mixed feelings after her side’s error-ridden opening was followed by a much-improved display as the game wore on.

“I think we needed to start a bit quicker,” she told reporters. “In the second half, we went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the world and that needs to be from whistle one.

“With that, there’s a little frustration but we can take the positives, knowing that we went toe to toe and that if we went from the jump it could have been a different outcome.

“It’s a great credit to how far this team has come. No disrespect to the other teams in the other groups but we have definitely gone up a level. We’re not drowning in the league, we’re holding our own and throwing our own punches.”

Hayes missed a great chance to reduce the deficit late on after getting on the end of a Katie McCabe cross, acknowledging she “should have done a little better” and promising to work on her finishing.

The 28-year-old defender says a tactical switch was behind Ireland’s second half improvement and suggested there was a sense of regret that the hosts didn’t take the game to England sooner.

“We’d changed a few things tactically, amended them and the attitude changes when you know what you’re doing.

“My position changed slightly in terms of being more aggressive and you saw that second half, we’re rolling with the punches and give it back and managed to get on top of it for a spell and that’s a credit to the changes we made and the effort the girls put in.

“At the end of the day, it was more of a mindset of just going up and being aggressive. We could have done it from the jump, but we made the changes tactically, learnt what we needed to do and did it better in the second half and that’s something we hope to fix and do from the first half next time.”

With two defeats and just four qualifiers remaining, Ireland face an uphill task in the group.

A top-two finish is necessary to qualify automatically for Euro 2025. Otherwise, Eileen Gleeson’s side will have to settle for the playoffs. But despite the unpromising outlook, Hayes believes her side can upset the odds.

“We wouldn’t be lacing our boots if we didn’t believe it. There’d be no point training and doing all the hard work. I’ll never lose belief in this group of girls.”