Scottish Women's Football

Image source, Colin Poultney/SWPL

Motherwell manager Paul Brownlie:

"It was a disappointing result and performance. I didn't think we were great.

"We've got our own high performance environment so it [being part-time] can't be an excuse for us.

"We knew the task and we should have been good enough to compete and we weren't."

Hibs manager Grant Scott:

"We looked a real threat going forward and the defence and goalkeeper did their job.

"I thought this was a difficult opponent for us and when the game was close it was very difficult so I'm over the moon with the result and performance.

"We've got a front line that looks dangerous and when they're scoring goals and the back line are keeping them out it's a good recipe."

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Montrose manager Craig Feroz:

"I think it's about damage limitation and you can try and take small things from the game.

"I know it's strange because we lost heavily but I thought our goalkeeper was outstanding. I think it's the first time she's played at this level and she made some really great saves.

"We've been here before, we've been through the pain and we know the end can result in something good. We just need to put this behind us and fight to try and get some points on the board."

Rangers manager Jo Potter:

"I'm a lot happier than I was on Wednesday night.

"I still thought it took us a while to get into the game and slower than usual but we got into our rhythm in the second half.

"You've got to be happy with the nine goals."

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Dundee United boss Suzy Shepherd:

"Another extremely hard, challenging game.

"It was really frustrating the manner in which we lost the goals. We need to tidy up, we need to cut out individual errors and stop conceding back to back.

"The players just need to believe in themselves a bit more.

"We've got to be fighting for every single ball and putting bodies on the line if need be but I don't think we do that until the game is out with our reach."

Hearts assistant coach Paschalis Xanthos:

"Coming back from a very tough game, having eight new players in the squad, they performed to a very high level.

"We try to give the best account of ourselves every single week.

"We don't look to far, we take it week by week and we just need time to put all the pieces together and create the pattern that we want."

As another free-scoring weekend draws to a close, we want to know what you made of your team's performance.

Celtic and Rangers fans, how are you feeling about that Champions League tie coming up?

Let us know here, external.

Image source, Colin Poultney/SWPL

Montrose have signed Celtic midfielder Maisy Stewart on loan for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.

The 17-year-old made her senior debut back in October 2023 and has been capped by Scotland at under-16 level.

Stewart could make her debut on Sunday when Montrose welcome last season's runners-up Rangers to Links Park.

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Although on paper it may not look like the most exciting tie of the weekend, based on their recent performances, Motherwell v Hibs should be a cracker.

Hibs sit third in the SWPL table after three wins from three having scored 15 goals in the process - the same number as last season's champions Celtic.

Motherwell were victorious in their first two matches and although they were on the end of a 5-1 defeat to Celtic on Wednesday, their performance against the reigning champions was hugely impressive.

The game on Sunday will also be a good indicator of how far off the full-time teams Paul Brownlie's side are.

They finished best of the rest last season, 30 points clear of the drop zone while Hibs finished fifth, nine points off Edinburgh rivals Hearts.

Motherwell's Morgan Cross, who found the back of the net against Celtic, looked massively dangerous down the left but Hibs' Linzi Taylor finally got off the mark with two goals from midfield.

You'll be able to follow the action with live commentary on the BBC Sport app and website with kick off at 16:00 BST.

Aberdeen v Celtic will be shown live on the BBC Sport Scotland website and app. Kick-off for that one is 13:00 BST.

Rangers' trip to Links Park at 16:10 BST will be live on BBC Alba as well as the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport Scotland website and app.

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A record-breaking 4,191 people attended the opening round of matches in this season's SWPL.

It is almost double the number of supporters who attended the matchday-one fixtures last year which was 2,133.

"We are delighted to confirm that the opening round of matches saw attendances nearly double, with total figures increasing across both divisions," SWPL managing director Fiona McIntyre said.

"This is significant growth and a really positive way to start the 2024-25 season.

"It was a fantastic occasion for Celtic to return to Celtic Park on the opening day of the season and encouraging to see games also scheduled at Firhill and Easter Road in the weeks ahead.

"These matches provide fantastic opportunities for fans to watch elite women’s football in some of the best stadiums in the country.

"I would like to thank fans for their continued support of the SWPL, our clubs, and the wider women’s game.

"If you've never been to a game before, there has never been a better time to get involved."

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Eilidh Adams is fully fit and confident after missing the second half of last season with a broken foot.

The Hibs striker missed the final two months of the season after breaking a bone in her foot in a game against Rangers.

Adams has played all three games for Hibs so far this season and has scored four goals in that time, hitting the ground running after returning from injury.

"I'm delighted first and foremost to be back to full fitness, back with no problems," she said.

"To get goals on top of that as a striker coming back, to get my confidence back as quickly as possible is definitely what I need.

"I'm delighted to be helping the team out as well.

"Getting injured is never easy especially when it's a longer term one. You know when you do it that it's a long road ahead.

"It got to that last bit where I wasn't quite there, that was probably the most frustrating because you feel like you're fine but you're not quite there.

"Mentally it was extremely challenging but I've been feeling good since I've been back."

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Aberdeen interim boss Stuart Glennie is delighted his side got their first win of the season.

The Dons were beaten 11-0 by Rangers and 7-0 by Hibs in their opening two fixtures before manager Colin Bell stood down for "personal reasons".

Glennie took charge of Wednesday night's 2-0 win over Montrose.

"It has been a busy few days but that’s why we are here," he told club media, external.

"We are here because we want to do well for the football club. It has been a difficult start for them, so we wanted to support them.

"It has been a difficult few weeks, so to come and do what they did [on Wednesday night] was excellent.

"As it is with any of the part time teams, and with the start that they had, it was always going to be difficult with games against Rangers and Hibs.

"Games like Montrose are the games we have to compete in and win, so the way they have trained with not much time, and to take on board what we wanted them to do, it is good.

"Even coming here you could see they were tense before the game, but they have come out, kept a clean sheet and got the win so it is great."

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Grant Scott is delighted with what summer signing Linzi Taylor has shown so far.

The former Partick Thistle player has been deployed as an attacking midfielder for Hibs, a role she often played against the Edinburgh outfit last term.

"She played against us last year in that role and I'll be honest I felt she crucified us at times," Scott told club media, external.

"We were very keen on bringing her to the club and now we've seen what she can offer.

"She's given us a proper headache now as well.

"It's all positive, I'm delighted for her, she just came in and applied herself really well. She's a great character to have in the team so I'm really pleased for her.

"We're in a good place at the moment, the team looked very comfortable tonight. I'm delighted with the clean sheet again and another three points."

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Celtic manager Elena Sadiku was really pleased with her substitutes in Wednesday night's 5-1 win over Motherwell.

Sadiku made five changes to her starting lineup and made five subs during the match at the Excelsior.

"I think it was a really good performance," the Celtic boss told club media.

"We were playing very nice football, very attacking. We tried to score a lot of goals and Motherwell were really trying to keep the numbers down.

"We have a great squad, making the subs you can see the impact when they come in.

"They come in with a lot of energy and quality and that's something me as a coach can be really happy with."

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Rangers boss Jo Potter: "We scored nine goals and kept a clean sheet and that was probably the best outcome of the night.

"I am not particularly pleased with the performance. It was a bit stop-start and we weren’t quite at it.

"It is tough to say after winning 9-0, but those are the standards we have set. We were 5-0 up at half-time but we said to them we had to hold ourselves to our standards.

"The performance wasn’t there, but it was blustery, we couldn’t find and make the passes because of the weather, but I expect us to find solutions and we were lacking that.

"I don’t expect us to be perfect but I expect us to be better."

Queen's Park manager Craig Joyce: "We know where we're seated at the table but I thought the girls were excellent, as I thought they were against Hearts.

"Bar maybe two 10 minute spells in each half I think the girls were excellent. Their effort was first class, their attitude and application was on the money and they were together.

"With a wee bit more composure and quality on the ball I think we might have caused a few more problems but I'm massively proud of the girls."

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Glasgow City boss Leanne Ross: "It’s hugely important that we’ve come away with the three points there.

"We obviously made it a difficult night for ourselves with the sending off and the penalty in the first-half but I think it's given me everything that I need to know about my squad in terms of willingness to go and fight for each other to make sure that we get the three points in that game."

Hearts manager Eva Olid: "Now the feeling is frustration.

"We had the opportunity to get points and we lost the game. The first half we could have had more of the ball and we didn’t. In the second half we had one more player, had more of the possession and had the opportunities but we didn’t take the opportunities.

"We lost the game. As a manager I take responsibility on that. I had confidence that having possession of the ball we could have scored the goal that we needed but it was not the case.

"The league is so long. This is just the third league game. There’s still a lot of time to play against them [Glasgow City, Rangers & Celtic]. We need to keep working hard, believing, and be ready for the next time."

Another dramatic SWPL card draws to a close and what an evening it was.

City secured that late victory over Hearts while Rangers put nine past Queen's Park.

Hibs have moved themselves into the top three with another big win.

What did you make of the midweek action? Are you happy with your team's performance?

Thistle fans, what do you make of the news that your game against City on Sunday is being moved from Kirkintilloch?

If you've got something to say, we want to hear it!

Give us your thoughts here, external.