Lee Alexander feature:
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Lee Alexander sat on the bench for Scotland’s women’s team at the European Championships last summer.
Having been called up to the national side for the first time in 2015, Scotland’s first major tournament came and went without the 26-year-old so much as laying a glove on a ball in competitive action.
After two years in the squad the Glasgow City shot-stopper has had to bide her time as she watched her teammates crash out of the Euros at the group stage in typical Scottish fashion. Despite a 1-0 win over Spain in their final game, Scotland were one goal short of progressing after defeats to England (6-0) and Portugal (2-1) in their previous games.
But now she is at the forefront of their bid to reach the 2019 World Cup.
Following Anna Signeul’s departure as team boss and stalwart goalkeeper Gemma Fay announcing her international retirement after the Euros in the Netherlands, Alexander has been handed the gloves.
And after earning six caps Scotland’s new number one is determined to hold on to her place and repay new gaffer Shelley Kerr for the faith she has shown in her. Alexander, who hails from Stewartfield, said: “I was involved at the Euros with the squad in the summer but there was no playing time. “It was still a good experience and it was great to be part of the tournament. “There’s been quite a lot of changes in the last few months with the new manager coming in and I’m really grateful to her for this opportunity. “I’ve enjoyed a few good games for Scotland now and I’ve been given plenty of game time in the last six games. “I’m really enjoying it and, now I’ve got into that position, I know I have to keep playing week in, week out for Glasgow City to stay there.
“Nothing is set in stone so it is up to me to keep performing if I’m going stay in the team.
“Everybody in the squad was part of the team who qualified for the Euros and having that experience makes you hungry to do even better.
“There’s no better place to perform than at a World Cup and, off the back of making our first Euros last year, there’s now a big incentive for the players to go and qualify for our first World Cup.”
Alexander made her debut in a 3-1 win over Hungary in September and Scotland have gone on to make a good start to their World Cup qualification campaign, recording a 2-1 win over Belarus and a 5-0 triumph over Albania in October.
Since then Alexander has kept a further two clean sheets in friendly wins over New Zealand, which both finished 2-0 earlier this month, but there was also a 3-0 defeat to Norway in January.
In a fortnight’s time attention returns to the World Cup qualifiers with a massive double-header. On April 5 they travel to group leaders Switzerland and they then host Poland on April 10.
“We are full of confidence we can win these games but we are not getting ahead of ourselves,” said Alexander.
“The games with New Zealand were great preparation for this. They were quite a physical and direct team so it was a different challenge and it was interesting to see how our styles matched up.
“It’s not a team we play very often so it was good to have that experience and get the wins as well.
“Switzerland are top of the group at the moment and they have a lot of top-class players, particularly up front. Poland had a good result in their last game as well so this will be our toughest matches coming up.”
On the club front Alexander is chasing more glory as Glasgow City go for a 12th league title in a row.
City were given a bloody nose last season when Hibs won both cup competitions to prevent another treble.
After three games of the Premier League season the sides are neck-and-neck at the top of the table.
Alexander said: “It was difficult last year but we got there, although it was disappointing not to win the two cups again.
“We want to do better in those tournaments as well but our main focus is to win the league again and make it a great year for the club.”