Ruesha Littlejohn is relishing the challenge of a Windsor Park derby as the Republic of Ireland prepare to wrap up their UEFA Nations League campaign with a clash against Northern Ireland.
The Girls in Green have comfortably won the group, clocking up five wins out of five, including a 3-0 defeat of the North at the Aviva Stadium in September.
But there's no sense that they'll take the opportunity to experiment tomorrow night. Ireland are travelling to Belfast braced for a battle and targeting another victory.
"They're going to be up for it, we know a couple of girls in their team," said Littlejohn, who returned to the side against Hungary last Friday for the first time since the summer's World Cup.
"We've not spoken to them too much but we know how passionate they are to play for the North. It's exciting, I'm really looking forward to it. It's been a few years since I've taken part in a game like this.
"We're looking to get another three points, we want to win. We know it's going to be a tough game. They're going to want to take points off us on their home patch in their own national stadium too so it's going to be a massive game but we're looking forward to it."
Littlejohn has missed most of the Nations League due a quad injury, however, she's seen enough in the last week to be believe things are moving in the direction, with interim boss Gleeson proving a calming influence in the wake of Vera Pauw's drawn-out departure.
A permanent successor to Pauw is expected to be announced in the next couple of weeks, with Littlejohn adding: "I think Eileen's done a great job. The staff are into it, it's running smoothly. We're with people who are really, really good at what they do, and I think we'll see that on the pitch soon.
"Obviously this tournament's been going very well, but we want to build on that and we know that - no disrespect to who we've been playing - we're going to be coming up against tougher opposition [in the Euro 2025 qualifiers] and that's when we'll see how it's going. But it's been really refreshing."
Littlejohn had an excellent World Cup in Australia. The 33-year-old started all three games in the middle of the park and was arguably her country's most consistent performer.
It's been a hectic year [the trip to the North will be Ireland's 14th game of 2023], but one in which Ireland have broken new ground while laying down solid foundations to keep building.
"It's been full on," Littlejohn said. "It's been busy, obviously all the lead-up to the World Cup, then the World Cup and the Nations League. I've been out for quite a few of the games but it's been full on.
"I didn't realise it was that many games but it's great because it's given people opportunities. We've seen how tough it is to be in the squad now and there's players that are coming back in, experienced players, young players too. It's competition.
"No one is safe on this team and you're going to need to perform to get back into the squad."
