Women's Nations League A: Germany v Scotland
Venue: VfL Wolfsburg Arena, Wolfsburg Date: Tuesday, 8 April Kick-off: 16:45 BST
Coverage: Watch on BBC Scotland & iPlayer & follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app
Scotland must stick with a "brave style" away to Germany in the Women's Nations League in order to "grow", insists interim head coach Mick McArdle.
Germany top Group A1 following Friday's 4-0 win at Tannadice, with Scotland yet to pick up a point from three matches.
McArdle, head of women's elite football at the Scottish FA, stepped in to replace Pedro Martinez-Losa, who left the position at the end of last year.
And he has introduced several younger players with an eye on the future.
"There's a transition within the squad," he said. "Ultimately, you've got to wait for those relationships to gel. Some senior players are not involved as well, who may come back.
"It's the style of play and identity that's the most important thing. If we play with a brave style and an identity that links with our culture then we'll have that connection and we'll grow through that, whereas, if we sit off top opponents, we're not going to grow too much.
"When you're playing against the top nations and you decide to go brave and apply that way of playing, it becomes even more difficult because you're changing quite a lot within the games as well."
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Twice World Cup winners and eight time champions of Europe, Germany are currently ranked third best by Fifa.
"There were moments in the game we feel were unlucky to go against us," McArdle said, reflecting on the loss at Tannadice. "But also moments of real clarity.
"The stats weren't too different, other than final box entries and then getting shots at goals. That was the key difference and Germany being very clinical."
Looking ahead to Tuesday's test in Wolfsburg, he added: "That's the exciting part. They're getting stressed against the best in international football.
"They've coped very well. Probably mentally, is the biggest challenge from the first camp. It's probably the easy one, where you come in on adrenaline.
"The second one is where you have more judgment and more expectation. I've got massive applause to the senior players, who have been outstanding.
"The young players have helped them along the way. They've focused their efforts on helping them be the best version of themselves. They see their younger self in them as well, so they know how to empathise that way."
While the Scots have no fresh injury problems, Eintracht Frankfurt defender Sara Doorsun, who was an unused substitute at Tannadice on Friday, misses out for Germany.
Germans look to improve
Germany head coach Christian Wuck: "I wasn't happy with our approach in the first 20 minutes. I have to learn from that and also improve my communication with my players so I can react quickly to things like that. Things got better after that.
"I'd like to be a bit further along. Injuries have repeatedly set us back. This is especially noticeable in defense. We haven't played a single game with the same defensive formation yet, but we want to give many players the chance to show us what level they're capable of.
"We'll make some changes. We have plenty of options at the moment. We're not 100% satisfied yet, so we'll have to see how well the changes work out and are already thinking about how things might look at the European Championships."
Match stats
Scotland have lost four games in a row and are without a win in five, having won seven in a row before that run.
Germany are unbeaten in three games, scoring four times in each of their latest two wins over Austria and Scotland.
Germany had suffered two consecutive home defeats - by Australia and Italy - before beating Austria in February.
Scotland have lost all four of their meetings with Germany without scoring.
Germany beat Scotland 4-0 in Bayreuth in a World Cup qualifier in 2005 and 3-0 in Essen in a 2013 friendly.
Scotland midfielder Caroline Weir, who was a second-half substitute, is the only survivor of either squad from that 2013 meeting.
