NO REGRETS

Weir stresses Scotland stand by public criticism of the SFA over tickets row at Hampden

SCOTLAND star Caroline Weir insists the squad have no regrets about their decision to criticise the SFA over their handling of the ticketing row ahead of tonight’s World Cup qualifier against Spain.

Weir was among a number of senior players who took to social media last week to express their disappointment at a perceived cap on tickets for the Hampden clash.

Their frustration stemmed from the fact that only a limited section of Hampden was being opened for the Group B showdown with the high-flying Spaniards.

In what became an awkward public spat, the SFA sought to clarify the matter by insisting that the full stadium would be opened if the demand for tickets was high enough.

In a strongly-worded statement, they also hit out at the players for ‘ill-informed sharing’ and creating ‘negative headlines’.

Scotland skipper Rachel Corsie later claimed that the issue ran deeper than just tickets, accusing the SFA of more deep-rooted inequality in how they treat the women’s national team. Although keen to stress that the row hasn’t been a distraction ahead of tonight’s game, Weir insisted the players fully stand by their comments.

Asked about how vital it is for the players to feel empowered to speak out about these issues, the Manchester City midfielder said: ‘Yeah, it is important.

‘Obviously that’s what we did last week. We came together as a group and decided that’s how we wanted to do things.

‘Rachel Corsie touched on everything last week, so I won’t speak too much more about that because I want to speak about the game.

‘But, yeah, we felt comfortable enough to do that (speak out). We don’t have any regrets. We are focused on the game and excited about it.

‘I think that (the fall-out) is behind us now. We’re fully focused on the task at hand, which is a massive game against Spain.

‘The focus on the training pitch has been excellent. All the players look really determined to go out and put on a good performance.

‘That’s been our No 1 focus throughout the whole camp. The application of every player has been really good.

‘There’s obviously been discussions off the pitch between the team and senior players in terms of things that happened last week.

‘But that hasn’t distracted us from our number one focus, which is the game. As football

players, what happens on the pitch is always the most important thing. ‘There’s always things going on off the pitch, so it’s easy to separate the two. The players are in a good place and we’re excited to go out there and play in front of a decent crowd at Hampden.

‘The players look good physically and, tactically, we’ve had more time on the training ground than we’re used to, which has been great.

‘We’re feeling prepared for this game against Spain and that’s been our focus since day one. We’re ready to go.’

Asked to clarify if the players stand by what was said on social media, Weir added: ‘Yes. Everything Rachel Corsie said — she speaks on behalf of the team — and you see what she said last week.

‘That’s the feeling within the team for now. Our representatives are dealing with it and Rachel spoke about it last week.

‘I’m sure things will move forward in the near future.’

Scotland go into tonight’s clash as huge underdogs. They face a Spain side who have won all five games so far, scoring a remarkable 43 goals in the process whilst not conceding any at the other end.

The visitors could secure their place at next year’s World Cup as group winners should they triumph in Glasgow tonight.

Scotland will realistically look to qualify via a play-off. Pedro Martinez Losa’s side currently sit second in Group B, a point ahead of Hungary.

Weir knows they will have to improve dramatically from the 8-0 thrashing they suffered in the reverse fixture against Spain last November.

‘There’s no doubt about it — that was a tough result,’ said the 26-year-old. ‘It was a low moment personally for me with the national team.

‘It’s not good enough to lose in that kind of way. We know we need to be better in lots of different areas and that’s something we’ve worked on.

‘We learned a lot from that game. I feel like the squad is in a different place now. Going into that last game, we probably had a little bit too much fear and maybe too much respect for Spain.

‘We know they are a top side, there’s no doubt about that. They’ve got some of the best players in the world.

‘But we need to be better at the things we can control. Things like being more aggressive and putting them under pressure.’