Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward said she had players “begging to come off” due to the heat in Ohio in their 4-0 friendly defeat against the United States.

Temperatures reached 30C during the game at the TQL Stadium and, despite cooling breaks in each half, the Republic struggled with the heat.

Whilst Emma Hayes named a completely different starting 11 from the first friendly between these two sides four days ago, Ward made just four alterations due to the Republic missing a host of regular starters.

She said she was forced into more changes during the game to protect her players’ health.

“On 22 minutes we had players asking to come off, unfortunately, we couldn’t make those changes, then at half-time, three enforced changes as players were physically fatigued and some unwell,” she told RTE.

“In the second half players were almost begging to come off and we couldn’t do anything about it.

“We can’t do anything about the heat, but it is dangerously hot out there and with humidity at 94%, I have never felt anything like it.”