MEGAN CAMPBELL insists she enjoys the challenge of playing as a centre-back for Ireland.
The Drogheda native, 31, earned her 53rd cap on Friday night in a 1-0 Nations League win over Turkey.
The London City Lionesses ace — known for her long throw-ins — was picked to play in the heart of Ireland’s defence by new boss Carla Ward instead of her usual full-back role.
She helped the Girls in Green pick up a clean sheet against a side 35 places behind them in the world rankings with Aston Villa’s Anna Patten beside her.
And Campbell said: “As I’m getting older, I prefer the more central role than being the full-back.
“I still enjoy it there. I play there for my club and I’m comfortable in that position.
“Having the support and backing of the staff to step in there comforted me.
“My understanding of the game suits me better at centre-back. It’s about helping the team where I can.”
With Ireland leading after Kyra Carusa struck with a first-half header, the Girls in Green were forced to withstand a nervy finale.
The Turks troubled Ward’s side late on and were unlucky not to have scored an equaliser at Tallaght Stadium.
In fact, Campbell even had to head away a corner that looked set for the net after Courtney Brosnan misjudged the flight of the ball.
But Campbell admitted: “Their ranking is not justified.
“They were very physical and tried to break things up a lot more than we would have liked.
“If they’re stopping us getting possession, they are winning in that respect.
“They were very direct and we worked on that all week, knowing that.
“A lot of the focus was on us. We had to be positive and work on our formation and how we were going to build.”
But the game was played in difficult conditions with the surface ‘very soft’ after Shamrock Rovers’ European tie on Thursday night was followed by torrential rain in the Dublin area on Friday morning.
Campbell added: “The pitch was very soft. Rovers were unfortunate to lose on penalties over two legs.
“They would have felt that as well in the legs and they played for 120 minutes. I don’t envy them in that respect.
“For us it was very soft, it kept lifting very easily so when you planted your foot to pass, things were bobbling.
“We could have been a lot smarter with that but it’s really positive as we did really well in those conditions. A clean sheet and three points are positive.”
MAIN CHANGE
Ireland deployed a fluid 4-3-3 shape under boss Ward and it was justified with a victory.
The new formation is something Campbell is looking forward to taking on.
But she admits it will take some getting used to.
The Ireland stalwart said: “We want to be on the ball, keep possession and do that higher up.
“We changed from a 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3 so you have one less in the backline which creates an extra one up front.
“It was positive and we were trying things. We’re trying to keep possession higher up.
“If we have to turn them, we have to turn them. We didn’t expect them to press as high.
“We have the quality but the confidence is something we may have maybe lacked in ourselves.
“But now we need to put that right in terms of our confidence.
“Everyone is technically good enough. The quality is there. We are good enough as a team and squad.”
