SCOTS ARE URGED TO RESTORE SOME PRIDE
INTERIM head coach Stuart McLaren has called on the Scotland women’s team to show their worth in their final two Group E European Championship qualifiers. The Scots have no chance of even making a play-off place for next summer’s finals in England — a failure that cost previous manager Shelley Kerr her job — but McLaren insists the national squad can now start building towards future success. Cyprus, whom Scotland trounced 8-0 at the start of the campaign, await this afternoon before the concluding game against Portugal on Tuesday. Both matches are being played in Cyprus because of Covid restrictions. McLaren has batted away questions about whether he will consider throwing his hat into the ring for the job on a permanent basis, insisting he wishes to look no further than this double-header. There is no weight to the games but McLaren says the rebuilding process starts here ahead of the World Cup qualifying campaign. ‘We are preparing to play Cyprus in the same way we would to play England or the USA,’ said McLaren. ‘The squad have suffered a sizeable setback in terms of not achieving qualification and they are determined from this moment on that they work towards making the next campaign as successful as it possibly can be and that starts with winning these two games. ‘It might bring a bit of confidence back and, individually, it is a chance to ensure they are one of the players who will go on and feature in future squads. There is a steely determination about them to go and restore some pride by winning the two games. Then we can start talking about the future and the next campaign. (Not being there) is one way of motivating.’ With the SWPL suspended in Scotland, there are players who have gone two months without playing. ‘They are not coming off a period where they have been completely idle,’ added McLaren. ‘They have all been doing individual programmes before joining up with us.’ Kick-off: 1pm. LIVE on BBC ALBA.