Women's Nations League: Tanya Oxtoby demands "90-minute performance" from Northern Ireland

Oxtoby says a “90-minute performance” is essential against the Albanians and also at home on Tuesday in Belfast against the Republic of Ireland, with both promotion and relegation still on the cards.

“We’ve been a bit hit and miss with making sure we put a 90-minute performance together,” Oxtoby told BBC Sport NI.

“We need to go over there and make sure we put in a 90-minute performance.”

Northern Ireland have secured four points from four games in the tournament and currently lie one point adrift of Hungary in Group B1 in second place in the table.

A top-two finish and promotion is the target for Oxtoby’s side in the inaugural Women’s Nations League but Northern Ireland have so far achieved only one win, beating Albania in Belfast in September.

The Republic of Ireland will represent a stiff challenge on Tuesday after winning all four of their opening games to top the table, but Northern Ireland must engineer a strong finish to the tournament to keep their chances of progressing to League A alive.

“We know that the Republic game is going to be a great moment for the women’s game,” said Oxtoby.

“That’s great, but we have to go to Albania first and do the business. ‘Be positive’ is what we spoke about throughout that whole [training] session [on Monday].”

Northern Ireland’s task will be even more difficult in the absence of record scorer Rachel Furness, who misses out with a hamstring injury.

Australian Oxtoby, who took over the reins from Kenny Shiels as boss in August on a four-year deal, added: “It is [a big blow]. Her experience and what she brings to this group is unquestionable. She will be in and around it towards the end of the week.

“That’s fantastic for us and she’s also going to do some work from a coaching perspective with our Under-19s as well. That shows how important she is long-term to our set-up and she’s definitely going to be a miss on the pitch for us.”