Scotland Women's Football Team

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Amy Canavan, BBC Sport Scotland in Pinatar

After 17 months out with an ACL injury, Jane Ross is keen to make up for lost time.

Scotland's second-highest goalscorer of all time is back in her first international camp in 21 months, and the striker is champing at the bit to get back out there in dark blue... and to do so again at a major tournament.

First up are two games in their warm-weather training camp in Pinatar, but the two games that will take place this week, starting with Philippines on Saturday, are in preparation of Euro 2025 qualifying, which begins in April.

Having been there and done that, the 34-year-old knows what it takes to get Scotland back into the big time and the Rangers forward is adamant this crop of players can do just that.

“We have a very talented group of players," Ross said.

"It was small margins in the last few games that have gone from being a loss to a win. We have a very talented squad, Euro 2025 is our goal for now and I am sure we are going to give everything we can to qualify.

“When we are on our day we are a very tough team to play against so there is definitely the belief and confidence there that we can go and qualify for 2025."

Amy Canavan, BBC Sport Scotland in Pinatar

Scotland head coach Pedro Martinez Losa caught up with us out in the Spanish sun as his team prepare for their first game of 2024 against the Philippines on Saturday afternoon.

Here are the key points he made:

• He said the squad and staff have "deeply reflected" on their Nations League campaign in a "honest and ruthless way" in order to progress to the next level.

• The head coach said his side "have to get used to dealing with the frustration and using every single aspect, positive and negative, to continue growing and build our mentality".

• Highlighted that one of the biggest strengths of this group are the "humans they are," adding, "that togetherness, that unity, that ambition to want to compete, that pride to play for Scotland".

• Martinez Losa stressed that "we cannot forget that the Philippines played in the World Cup," when preparing for Saturday's game.

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German-born Scotland and Leicester City centre-back Sophie Howard discusses fitting into the national squad on the Behind the Goals podcast.

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Celtic midfielder Jenny Smith has been called into the Scotland squad for the Pinatar Cup, replacing AC Milan's Christy Grimshaw.

Smith made her only international appearance in October last year, coming off the bench against the Netherlands at Hampden in the Nations League.

Pedro Martinez Losa's side face the Philippines on Saturday, 24 February, before taking on either Slovenia or Finland the following Tuesday in the invitaional friendly tournament.

16-time capped Grimshaw was on the end of a nasty challenge at the weekend in the Milan derby.

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Amy Canavan, BBC Sport Scotland at Hampden

Head coach Pedro Martinez Losa announced his Pinatar Cup squad earlier today and addressed the media afterwards.

He touched on a few subjects including the Nations League disappointment, the need to bounce back and the recall of Jane Ross.

On reflection of the last campaign:

“At the end of a campaign, there is always a period of reflection for us. There is a period of trying to improve things, reflect internally and try to bring things together for the new campaign.

“There are a lot of areas for improvement in terms of football, in terms of internally the structure and the resources that we have – it is a little bit of everything – but also the progression of the players that we have been trusting.

“For us, we are looking forward to reconnecting with the good things that we have done before and give that energy to the group that we are starting a new campaign with the objective of qualifying for the Euros."

On scrutiny he has faced for England result:

“I accept criticism, that is part of my job, I understand the disappointment, we have already apologised to our fans after a very difficult result but we have an obligation to analyse internally where we can improve. The top nations are flying in terms of level of investment, resources and level of football so we have to look at every single area with our limited resources what we can do to take some competitive advantages to make sure those distances are being reduced.

“The two scenarios against England are good examples of on a good day we can match and compete with England, on a bad day, the level we showed in the last game was not what we expected."

On SWNT's next steps:

“I have a role here that I am privileged to have every day and I have an opportunity to deliver a message to the players and to help them get to the next level. Exciting and challenging times are coming up, I never expected this to be a rosy journey.

"Hopefully, with the media, we can work together, we all want Scotland to qualify so the narrative sometimes we describe has a lot of influence on how we perceive things. We are a team developing and a team to be excited about.

“We also have become a team who can be world class in many contexts. That has already now given us the capability to compete. Losing players like Emma Watson and Caroline Weir they were the two players, plus others, that were helping us to link the final third connections."

On the young players being the future of the side:

“There is a challenge now. What we have done is create a platform of safety and good atmosphere in training but this needs more requirement that should be there, that wasn’t there on my arrival but we have built it in now for two years and now we to continue giving that to give them the chance. Some of them have got to the level very quick, others it has taken a little more time, for me, I will always be on their side, my specialism is in developing young players.

“They have to be the answer because that is what we have and that is what we are producing now."

On Jane Ross' return to the international squad:

"She is one of the best professionals I have ever met in my career. She has gone through a process of injuries, but now she is looking in good form. We have had continuous conversations with Jane, Rangers and the manager to know if she was in the best position, so we all agreed that now she was ready, which Is good news for us. She is a player who knows the game very well and we are aware of what she can bring to the team.

“She knows the role she needs to play in every moment on and off the pitch for the team and it is always a pleasure to work with her."

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Pedro Martinez Losa has confirmed his Scotland squad for the upcoming Pinatar Cup in Spain.

The most notable addition is Rangers striker Jane Ross, who returns to the squad after a 21 months after earning her 146th cap.

Rangers' Chelsea Cornet, Hibs' Leah Eddie and Glasgow City's Hayley Lauder also return whilst Amy Gallacher, Abi Harrison, Kirsty Maclean, Emma Mukandi and Rachel McLauchlan drop out.

Martinez Losa’s side kick off their 2024 fixture calendar against the Philippines on 24 February.

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Female footballers are becoming more susceptible to ACL injuries as a result of the increasing demands of professional football, a Fifpro report has found.

The world player's union carried out a study that found a greater workload, travel and less rest were all contributing factors in the high number of ACL injuries in the women's game.

They collected data from leagues in England, France, Germany and Spain and found of the 139 elite players analysed, 58 were injured over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Knee injuries were the most common, with 12 players suffering ACL problems.

Compared to non-injured players, those with damaged ACLs were shown to typically have made a higher number of appearances for club and country, travelled long distances more often, and regularly had to cope with under five days between matches.

Fifpro chief medical officer Prof Dr Vincent Gouttebarge noted that "especially ACL injuries" were associated with busy fixture schedules.

Although not studied in Scotland, we are no stranger to a similar plague of ACL injuries.

In the top flight Spartans' Tegan Reynolds is finally back training after her struggles with the ligament problem.

Scotland internationals Fiona Brown and Caroline Weir have been struck with the ACL plague - the former facing years of difficulties.

Brown, who will be back in the SWPL with Glasgow City come January, has undergone four ACL surgeries throughout her career and has been helping her Scotland teammate Weir to cope with the difficulties.

The Real Madrid midfielder ruptured her ACL in Scotland's game against Belgium back in September and is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines as she recovers.

After captaining Scotland in their damaging 6-0 defeat to England at Hampden, Rachel Corsie joins former national team player Leanne Crichton to offer their honest and raw reaction on the Behind The Goals Podcast.

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After Scotland endured a Hampden humbling at the hands of the Auld Enemy on Tuesday, questions have been raised over the future of manager Pedro Martinez Losa.

But after the Spaniard was handed a lengthy contract extension before the start of a now-unsuccessful Nations League campaign, BBC Scotland's chief sports writer Tom English doesn't think he'll be shown the door any time soon.

"He signed it [his contract] until September till 2027, so I think the future holds probably a lot more years as Scotland manager because are they going to pay him off now? I doubt it," English told the Scottish Football Podcast.

"Like you look at it in context, right? This was a fiendishly difficult group that Scotland were in. England, world number four, Netherlands, world number seven, Belgium, world number 18. Scotland are ranked 23rd.

"It's not surprising that they didn't get out of this group. It's disappointed they didn't win any games. It's certainly a huge embarrassment that they lost 6-0, but I'm not surprised that they finished bottom at all.

"They think the biggest problem for Losa is the failure to get to the World Cup. That was a winnable game against Ireland at Hampden. The stars were aligned and they blew it. That's the greater failing, not this, but it's back-to-back now.

"So there is a big question mark about his management of this team. But is he going anywhere? I very much doubt it."

• Where did it go wrong for Scotland at Hampden? Subscribe and listen to full episodes of BBC's Scottish Football Podcast

Former Scotland striker Julie Fleeting believes that Pedro Martinez Losa got his tactics wrong against England, and Scotland shouldn't have taken as many risks playing out from the back.

Martinez Losa's side were thrashed 6-0, leaving Scotland with just two points from their six Nations League games.

"I was a bit confused," Fleeting said. "The damage had been done on the pitch and was nothing to do with how he set his team out? I don't believe that.

"I think when you see the changes that were made in the second half - that changed the game as Scotland got more involved and offered more of a threat going forward - I don't think he got it right in terms of the game plan.

"I don't think we should have been trying to play out when they had a high press with four or five players poised on the edge of the 18-yard box ready to pounce.

"It put the players under pressure. We saw players lose confidence, and we didn't need that defensively."

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