Kerr aims to get winning feeling back for Scotland in Algarve Cup
Shelley Kerr says a return to winning ways will be the priority when her side play in the 12-team Algarve Cup tournament next month. The Scotland head coach used the January friendlies against Norway and Iceland in La Manga to give all her outfield fringe 0 Shelley Kerr: Key players back. players prolonged game time. Both games were lost, but, in announcing her squad for Portugal, Kerr was able to include captain Rachel Corsie, her deputy Kim Little and two other first-choice players from the World Cup qualifying campaign – goalkeeper Lee Alexander and left-back Emma Mitchell. None of the quartet travelled to Spain.
“I don’t like singling players out, but it’s great to have Rachel and Kim back,” Kerr pointed out. “People don’t realise how much they give off the pitch as well as on it. Kim has done really well to come back from two injuries. I watched Arsenal v Man Utd in the Continental Cup semi-final last week and she was outstanding – really sharp and tactically brilliant.”
Two more first-choice players missing in Spain – defender Sophie Howard and forward Lisa Evans – came close to being considered for the trip, but Kerr would prefer to see them build up game time at Reading and Arsenal. Scotland play group matches against tournament top seeds Canada on 1 March, followed by Iceland, again, on 4 March. There will be a third game on 6 March dependent on where the side finishes in the group.
Kerr added: “We play Canada, who are ranked fifth in the world, first. In the World Cup our first game is against England, who are fourth. I’m never going to sit and say we’re going out to win the Algarve Cup. We’re going to try and win the first game, we’re going to try and win the second game, and we’ll see where that takes us.”
Former Hibernian striker Abiharrison,whojoinedbristol City last month, returns to the squad for the first time in over a year but her teammate Lucy Graham and Durham striker Zoe Ness drop out despite starting against Iceland in the previous game.