This is a project that is all aimed towards an end goal of qualifying for Euro 2025 and being able to compete at the tournament.
Oxtoby hopes to set foundations for success in the future too and she hasn’t been afraid to make tough decision, including dropping former captain Marissa Callaghan for the upcoming play-off with Croatia as well as Demi Vance.
“We’re heading in the right direction, there’s no doubts about that. I feel like in the last two windows we have turned a corner,” said Oxtoby.
“We have good foundations to keep pushing on. This level now is the minimum for us. These two play-off games will be massive.
“It’s a fairly young squad in transition. The hardest thing to do in a transition period is to keep winning but I’m excited to see them play.
“We won’t move away from what we have been doing. But we need to do it quicker, better and for longer. That’s the challenge – and the players are ready for it.”
It will not be an easy task.
Northern Ireland are ranked 14 places higher than Friday’s play-off opponents Croatia but with major tournament regulars Norway potentially to come should they progress, tougher challenges lie in waiting.
Oxtoby is under no illusions to the challenge but she is looking at the bigger picture.
“It would be massive to [qualify for Euro 2025]. It’s the reason I took the job. It was always going to be a massive challenge.
“But I don’t want to just qualify for major tournaments. I want us to go there, be successful and compete. I want us to shake it up, that’s the whole point of it.
“We need results, that’s the business we’re in, but we also need long-term success. We need to win in the right way and develop in the right way.
“I want to get [to Euro 2025] and people say ‘wow, this team is something’. That’s my goal for these players. We are not getting ahead of ourselves but that’s where we want to be.”