A chance for untried players

SCOTLAND’S chronic injury problems make it a near certainty that uncapped players will get game time in the Belgium friendly a week on Tuesday.

That is particularly true in central defence, where three untried players join the squad.

Celtic captain Kelly Clark, who works for an accountancy firm, will hope to win her first cap in Leuven.

Vaila Barsley and Sophie Howard have committed to Scotland through blood lines and bring top-level club experience from Sweden and Germany.

If there is any upside to the injury woes it is that players who would otherwise not have got close to the Scotland team should now be able to press claims. THREE huge matches lie ahead for the Scotland women’s Under-19 side, who play the Republic of Ireland, Finland and Ukraine in the European Championship elite round.

Hosts Ireland will have the crowd support in the opening game on Tuesday, but nothing encountered in Limerick will remotely compare to what Gareth Evans and his squad experienced in the qualifying round.

Then most of the players were laid low by illness at their Albanian base and Uefa awarded the unplayed third group game to Serbia. That was followed by an absurd, but widely-spread, report that the players had been drinking heavily.

No lack of motivation, then, once Group 4 starts on Wednesday. Scotland have a chance of qualifying for the finals in Ulster this year – but will have to be at their best.

It’s a positive that Anna Signeul resisted the temptation to call the captain, Erin Cuthbert, into her injuryravaged squad. The 18-year-old is not yet a starting player for Chelsea, so the chance to play three competitive games in Ireland makes perfect sense. RACHEL Harrison, one of five goalies up for three Euro 2017 places, has rejoined Spartans. The 27-year-old wasn’t getting first-team football at Fortuna Hjorring and needs to play regularly ahead of the July tournament.