Serbia 1-1 Scotland: Anna Signeul relief at draw
- Published
Anna Signeul praised late call-up Lana Clelland for her last-minute equaliser as an under-strength Scotland drew 1-1 with Serbia in Stara Pazora.
The Scotland coach was relieved to avoid a frustrating defeat in their last friendly ahead of their Women's World Cup qualifying campaign.
"I am delighted for Lana, coming into the squad as a late call-up and grabbing a goal," she said.
"We had around 70% of the possession and created far more chances."
Danka Podovac gave the Serbs the lead when she pounced on a cut-back to score after 29 minutes.
But Spartans midfielder Clelland beat her marker to a long ball from Jane Ross before firing past the Serbian goalkeeper.
Suzanne Malone had the ball in the net in stoppage time after a Sarah Crilly effort came off a post, but the Glasgow City striker's effort was flagged offside.
The Scots were without a number of first-team regulars, with Kim Little, Jennifer Beattie, Lisa Evans and Megan Sneddon among those unavailable.
"It looked as though it was just going to be one of those days, but we got ourselves level through sheer determination," said Signeul.
"We had quite a few players out, but I am really pleased by the contribution from the players who came into the squad.
"We are concentrating on building strength in depth, so it is very important that these players get game time and show us what they can do.
"Overall, I was pleased with the performance. Serbia are a good side, who only lost to England and Holland in their Euro qualifying group.
"It was very positive that players like Suzanne Malone and Shannon Lynn got 90 minutes, with young players like Lana Clelland, Siobhan Hunter and Sarah Crilly all getting onto the pitch.
"We were also delighted to get Rachel Corsie back in to the starting line-up ahead of the qualifiers and she looks very close to getting back to her pre-injury form."
Scotland: Lynn, Brown, McSorley (Hunter, 79), Corsie, Lauder, J Murray (Crilly, 65), Love (Clelland, 75), Crichton, L Ross, Malone, J Ross. Unused subs: Fay, Docherty, Robertson.
- Published2 June 2013
- Published16 April 2013