Losa casts net abroad as Scotland gear up for World Cup challenge in Zwolle

SCOTLAND’S preparations for October’s World Cup play-offs start on Friday with a friendly against Netherlands in Zwolle. That’s followed four days later by a very different level of opposition when the final Group B qualifier is played in the Faroe Islands.

Pedro Martinez Losa has called Reading left-back Emma Mitchell into one of his squads for the first time, but knows her well as the 29-year-old was at Arsenal when he joined the WSL club in 2014. Also making a first appearance in a Martinez Losa selection is Rosengard winger Fiona Brown, who has yet again shown great fortitude to return from another serious knee injury.

Mitchell – she gave birth to a baby girl nine months ago – has played no competitive football since March 2021, while Brown has made just three brief substitute appearances in the last 12 months. The other player recalled is Rangers right-back Rachel McLauchlan.

All three are former Glasgow City players (Brown was also at Celtic, and McLauchlan at Aberdeen and Hibernian) but the days of domestic players providing the nucleus of Scotland squads have well and truly gone. Martinez Losa has selected just five Scottishbased outfielders for the double-header.

Jane Ross wasn’t available following her ACL rupture, but Lizzie Arnot drops out, as does Lisa Robertson, now back at Celtic after a loan season at Birmingham City.

Martinez Losa signed a number of Dutch players, including Vivianne Miedema, for Arsenal during his three years at the club. Friday’s opposition have parted company with English manager Mark Parsons following what they regarded as a disappointing Euros, replacing him on Wednesday with Andries Jonker, who was assistant to Louis van Gaal at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and also managed Wolfsburg.

There is a very slight chance that Scotland could face Netherlands again in the World Cup play-offs. Jonker’s side lead Group C by two points from Iceland, but the latter have a game in hand at home to Belarus on Friday.

If, as expected, they win, it will set up a group decider against Netherlands in Utrecht on the same night Scotland are in the Faroes.

AND ANOTHER THING

RANGERS will know their Champions League second round opponents on Thursday.