Scotland Women's Football Team

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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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Were you at Hampden on Tuesday or following the match from home? Either way, want your views on the game – have your say here.

Scotland head coach Pedro Martinez Losa: "Very disappointed and very frustrated.

I want to apologise to the fans. This is not the level we expected. Especially in the first half, we totally lost concentration. I also give credit to England, I thought they were excellent.

We had chances to get back in the game but it was very difficult. It was a tough night for our players. I want to take full responsibility because I know how hard the players work for us but today it was not enough."

"I think we have been improving game by game. We are building our own style. Today was not a question of the game plan - I think the game plan was okay - it was about the execution and it was a question of how the opponent overcame the difficulties of the game and the desire they put into the result.

"We are a group united between the players and the staff. This is a setback of course, but football always bring you to these moments and we must rebuild for the next stage and the Euros."

"We felt we were very close in some games [in the campaign] but today we felt very far. We must reset and the players must reset. We have another opportunity in February to focus on qualification for the Euros."

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Despite questions around the Scotland players' integrity ahead of a match that England needed to win, and win by a large margin, it was a tough night for Pedro Martinez Losa's side.

Their performance was filled with defensive errors that England were able to capitalise on, putting six past Lee Gibson by the time the full time whistle blew.

The Scots came to life as the minutes ticked down and had a couple of late chances but it ultimately wasn't enough to make a dent in the five goal cushion England had already built and Lucy Bronze's injury-time goal added insult to injury.

There is no silver lining for the Scots either as Team GB's hopes of heading to the Olympics next summer were also dashed with the Netherlands' 4-0 win over Belgium.

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Scotland XI: Gibson, Clark, Corsie, Docherty, McLauchlan, Kerr, Cuthbert, Mukandi, Emslie, Hanson, Evans.

Substitutes: Fife, MacIver, Howard, MacLean, Brown, Lauder, Hay, Rodgers, Harrison, Davidson, Thomas, Napier.

England XI: Earps, Bronze, Greenwood, Morgan, Charles, Stanway, Walsh, Kirby, Mead, Hemp, James.

Substitutes: Carter, Hampton, Toone, Wubben-Moy, Zelem, Kelly, Clinton, Daly, Le Tissier, Keating, Turner, Russo.

Follow our coverage here.

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BBC Sport Scotland's Amy Canavan

Rachel Corsie admits Scotland "can challenge" England when they meet at Hampden on Tuesday night.

Much has been made of the Lionesses chance of winning Group A1 and keeping alive Team GB's hopes of making the Paris Olympics in 2024.

But the Scotland captain is adamant her side want to "end the year with a win" following a tough Nations League campaign where she believes

"We want to go into the game feeling good," she said. "That is one thing that we have to ensure we do. We have to get one another up for the game and I think when we do that we have huge quality and we can challenge them as well.

“In my time playing in the national team, it’s rare you get to play the top nations in competitive games outside of major tournaments really, now with the Nations League, that’s what we got.

"We got to be in Pot A, which is the pot we want to be in. Unfortunately we are not going to stay there, but the aim will be to get back there as soon as possible.

"Having the chance to consistently play against the top nations is a huge learning curve for us and ultimately, it has been small margins, which is the lesson."

On Tuesday's Scottish Football Podcast, the team look ahead to Scotland v England in the Women's Nations League with Glasgow City's Suzanne Lappin, and discuss Rachel Corsie’s comments that it’s "disrespectful" and "outrageous" to question the SWNT’s integrity.

• Subscribe and listen to full episodes of the Scottish Football Podcast.

BBC Scotland's Amy Canavan

Rachel Corsie believes captaining Scotland to victory over England at Hampden "would be amazing".

Scotland women will meet their English counterparts at the national stadium for the first time on Tuesday, the final match in the Nations League.

"I've captained Scotland to a win against England before, but not at Hampden," said Corsie, 34.

"That would be amazing. In my journey, the fact the national team now play here is an incredible honour.

"It is a stadium I grew up supporting in, being in the stands and knowing this is the pride of Scotland when it comes to football. The fact we are here means so much."

With relegation to League B confirmed by Friday's draw in Belgium, Corsie reflected on Scotland's experience in Group A1.

"Having the chance to consistently play against the top nations is a huge learning curve for us and, ultimately, it has been small margins, which is the lesson," she said.

"A home game against England, the incentive to get a result is enormous and that'll be the plan."

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Amy Canavan, BBC Sport Scotland at Hampden Park

Pedro Martinez Losa said it was "totally inappropriate" to question the integrity of his Scotland players before their Nations League game with England on Tuesday.

England are the nominated country to represent Team GB at Paris 2024, but they are second in their Nations League group and may need a big victory to keep their Olympic hopes alive.

The Spaniard said there has been "no conversation" had on the Olympics.

"I don't feel happy about the questioning of the integrity of the Scottish players," said the head coach.

"Scotland is a wonderful country, with wonderful people, they are very passionate about everything and nobody for one second should question the integrity of the players and how much they want to represent their nation.

"The feeling of this group is to represent thousands of girls and boys who are coming to watch and inspire all these people - that is stronger than anything. I feel the question is totally inappropriate.

"Our motivation is our fans, to play good football, to beat England and improve the aspects we have to improve as a team. This is something we couldn't affect and is part of the competition. We have been trying to stay away from that, there is no conversation to have.

"My opinion of the question of the integrity is very negative. Everyone who knows me, the players, the team know how strong the feeling is for players to represent their country.

"I do not think there is any other feeling that will be on the pitch. I wish this was not the situation, I am not sure what the solution will be in the future but I do not want my players to be in this situation."