Northern Ireland boss Shiels delighted to see Everton forward Magill back to her best | OneFootball

Northern Ireland head coach Kenny Shiels says that he is delighted to see Everton forward Simone Magill back to her best ahead of the nation’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 qualifying double-header against North Macedonia.

The 27-year-old has endured a difficult few months as a result of family matters and niggling injuries but she is now back scoring goals for her club.

Magill is a member of the Northern Ireland squad for this month’s fixtures against North Macedonia and head coach Shiels says that he is pleased to see the forward playing well and displaying her bubbly character.

“It has been a very stressful time for Simone,” Shiels told FAWSL Full-Time. “There was a family bereavement, she had her wedding and it all just mounted up on top of her. Most people know the stresses of a wedding and being a bride then she had the death on top of that and she was injured. There was an accumulation of events that were very difficult for Simone.

“She looks different now, she looks back on track and I am delighted that she has brought that personality back into the camp again. It is a very common term when people say that they are ‘buzzing’ but I can see that in her.

“I am really happy that the old Simone is back again.”

With the player short of game time so far this season, Shiels went on to say that she will be well-managed along with a number of other players in his squad.

He said “Watching her in training, she’s back to her old self, she is a livewire. She needs conditioning but we have to taper that in for her and support her.

“There are a lot of our girls who need that as well because they haven’t been playing as many games and we want to continue to help them get their match fitness. Rachel Furness is a player who isn’t getting full 90 minutes and there are a lot of others who fit into that category.

“We really want to push on now and Simone is certainly a part of that.”

Northern Ireland travel to Skopje to face North Macedonia in their first game on Thursday before hosting the same opponents back in Belfast on Monday evening.