England Women v Ireland Women: Carrow Road match preview

The North Walsham winger will be the main attraction for a sold-out Carrow Road as Sarina Weigman's side seeks victory to take into a crunch encounter with Sweden next week. 

It will be an evening that holds extra emotion for Hemp as she returns home to Norfolk, where she was forced to depart as a teenager to pursue her dream of becoming a professional footballer. 

Hemp has been dubbed as Norfolk's greatest-ever sporting export by some in North Walsham in the build-up to this encounter, but that is a statement she relishes rather than downplays. 

"It's nice to hear that," Hemp said. "There are so many incredible people who have come from Norfolk who have gone on to be successful. I'm sure there are others who could take that as well. 

"It's nice to be a role model, and that's one of our aims. We want to show girls that its possible to chase your dreams and be anything that you want to be. It's nice to hear that from people, and I want to be known as that." 

Carrow Road is a sell-out as they welcome the Lionesses to Norfolk for the second time since 2022, when under 15,000 supporters witnessed a goalless draw with Spain. 

Perhaps it documents the rapid rise of women's football that tickets were sold out in minutes upon their release as fans prepare to watch some of the biggest stars in the female game in NR1 this evening. 

Boss Sarina Wiegman, who has taken England to both a World Cup and Euros final, is relishing the opportunity of a Carrow Road return and stressed the importance of being professional ahead of next week's decisive game against Sweden. 

"It's nice to play here. We've played here once before in the Arnold Cup against Spain and it's nice to be back," the England boss said. "The pitch looks really good so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow when it's sold out and hopefully we can give everyone a very good evening.

The Lionesses trained at Carrow Road on Friday morning. (Image: Denise Bradley/Newsquest)

"It's another very important game in our journey to qualify for the Euros. We want to improve our game too and of course Republic of Ireland have been challenging all the teams in this group so we expect them to be really tough again tomorrow. We approach every game to win. We want to play well and control the game.

"We got some good preparation in the Netherlands last week. We wanted to build some volume, get everyone back up to speed, because after some time off you have to get back in it. That's what we did and of course we have to get ready for these two games now. We have been able to work on little tweaks in our game."

That sentiment is shared by Hemp - who is confident that the Lionesses' experiences of big game situations in recent years will help them navigate a path to direct qualification for next year's Euros. 

"It's going to be a big game," Hemp said. "It's not going to be easy but we're really looking forward to it. We know what they're going to bring.

"We're all experienced in high-pressure games and know what it takes to win. We don't like the feeling of losing. It's been a good few weeks of training and we're looking forward to the game. We always want to win."

England are hoping to take a step closer to Euros qualification against Ireland tonight. (Image: PA Images)

Weigman stressed the importance of taking momentum into Tuesday's trip to Sweden, something she believes can be achieved through victory over Ireland tonight. 

 “It comes down to Tuesday’s game [in Sweden] but tomorrow’s game is also an important one for the team because we want to win, we want to be in the best possible place before we go to Sweden," Weigman said. 

“While things are also dependent on the other game, it’s so close that we can still top the group too.

“Our approach is that we want to win the game tomorrow and hopefully, we can get another great result on Tuesday and be in the best possible position.”