Leanne Ross says her Scotland retirement is because she 'could not commit as much'

Leanne Ross (left) won 133 caps for Scotland

Leanne Ross says she felt it was time to stop playing for Scotland in order to give someone else a chance.

Ross and defender Ifeoma Dieke both ended their international careers after the Euro 2017 finals.

"The effort that you've got to give and the commitment, I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to give as much as I could," Ross, 36, told BBC Scotland.

"The funding has ran out, so I wouldn't be able to train full-time. I felt like it was the right time."

The Glasgow City midfielder, who has played a number of positions for her country, amassed 133 caps and nine goals.

"I've played for 11 years in the national team," said Ross.

"I wanted to get to the Euros and test myself at the highest possible level. I've done that and I think I can be happy with what I've achieved.

"And it is a good time just after the Euros, finishing on a high and giving someone else the opportunity to take us forward as a country and see what else we can do.

"It's been in the pipeline for a while. But, obviously, my full focus was on the Euros."

The City captain made her debut in a World Cup qualifying win over Switzerland in April 2006.

She had to wait four years to score her first international goal, which came in Tbilisi in a 3-1 win against Georgia.

Leanne Ross (right) has spent 11 years in the Scotland set-up

Ross was inducted into the Scottish FA Roll of Honour last month for being one of just 12 players to have won more than 100 Scotland caps.

"My debut is always up there," she said. "It was a bit of a blur, playing left-back, but we won that game.

"But playing at the Euros has got to be the major highlight."

Ross spent her whole Scotland career under Swedish-born coach Anna Signeul, who is now stepping aside after more than 12 years at the helm to be replaced by Shelley Kerr.

Kerr will name her first squad this week for the friendly with Hungary on 14 September and she was in the crowd to watch Ross score twice and create three other goals in Glasgow City's 7-0 Scottish Cup win over Hearts on Sunday.

"It's good that Shelley's coming along to the games and giving herself a good flavour of who's out there and what kind of players she's got to pick for the squads," added Ross.

"I just hope that everybody that does get in the squad keeps working really hard and keeps moving us in the direction that we're going, because I think we've done really well to get to the Euros and that's got to be the target now that we're reaching finals."