Scottish Women's Football

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Midfielder Erin Cuthbert is primed to make a positive impact on her Scotland return after thriving in a hectic period for quadruple-chasing Chelsea.

Three wins over Manchester City in recent weeks saw Cuthbert's club side win the League Cup, remain on course to retain the Women's Super League title and progress to the Champions League semi-finals.

The WSL leaders also remain in the hunt for the FA Cup after booking a place in the last four.

That frantic spell has meant little rest for Cuthbert, but the 26-year-old is lapping up a change of scenery with the national team as they prepare for a Nations League double-header with Germany.

Cuthbert, who missed interim head coach Mick McArdle's opening two matches with a rib injury, said: "I love the business end of the season, it's brilliant. I just love the games that matter the most, the most pressurised moments.

"I feel like it brings out a different Erin and the best of me. But the past couple of weeks I've not really had a great amount of sleep. I've had loads of travel.

"I think as an elite athlete in the business at the end of the season, you just accept you're not going to sleep, you're going to feel pressure. The pressure keeps you up at night. But it's what we love doing.

"If I didn't have any pressure, then what's the point doing it? I enjoy the pressure, I thrive upon it. I know it's a tough part of the season, but it's what every single person wants to be part of.

"I just love the refresh here at Scotland and hearing the Scottish accent, just being back with the girls in general. It's nice to break it up because amongst all the pressure at Chelsea, you just come here in a bit more of a relaxed environment.

"I'm excited for the games ahead. It's a new campaign, feels like a sort of fresh squad, fresh kit as well, fresh everything, so I'm looking forward to seeing what we can achieve."

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"I'm not even going to say maybe, it was without doubt the best football I've seen her play."

That's just how well Scotland captain Rachel Corsie thinks midfielder Erin Cuthbert is currently performing.

Scotland host Germany in the first of a Nations League A double-header on Friday and will be bolstered by the returning Cuthbert, who missed their opening matches against Austria and Netherlands in February because of a rib problem. Both games ended in defeat for interim head coach Michael McArdle.

Cuthbert has been in fine form for WSL leaders Chelsea and helped them overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit to knock out Manchester City in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals last week.

"It's a boost with Erin back. I just saw her play the first 45 minutes at the weekend, and I was at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night," Corsie, who remains sidelined through injury, told the Behind the Goals podcast.

"I'm not even going to say maybe, it was without doubt best football I've seen her play. It's the efficiency of what she does, it's so effective.

"And she's sort of buzzing about, I know that she's feeling good; she knows that she's in a good bit of form, and she's enjoying it."

Third in the Fifa rankings, Germany visit Tannadice on Friday night before the teams meet again in Wolfsburg four days later.

"We'll spend large parts of the game, I would think, against Germany under pressure," Corsie added.

"We've been in those games before, we've had a lot of games like that where we've shown we can compete and be really difficult to break down, so I would expect us to have to try and be really diligent and disciplined in that area of pitch."

Former Scotland midfielder Leanne Crichton echoed Corsie's sentiment that it will be a night of hard graft out of possession, saying: "They'll need to be comfortable without the ball, that's the reality against the Germans."

With the first leg on Scottish soil, though, the sidelined skipper does see some reason to be hopeful.

Corsie said: "It's an advantage to be at home. I think that home game probably comes [with] a little extra optimism from my perspective because I just think, can we really try and push and get something out of that?

"I feel optimistic, I do."

Hear from Scotland star Caroline Weir - at the premiere of a film about her life and career - on the latest episode the Behind the Goals podcast.

Plus there's build-up to the Nations League double-header with Germany as Rachel Corsie and Leanna Cricton assess Scotland's hopes.

Listen and subscribe on BBC Sounds

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

Lee Gibson (Glasgow City): The Scotland shot-stopper headed into the international break with a fine performance in a big win for Leanne Ross' side.

Nothing she could do for Saoirse Noonan's exquisite finish, but Gibson did come up with a big block with her boot and coped well with Celtic's second-half pressure.

Lauren Doran-Barr (Hibernian): The full-back is a consistent, solid performer for league leaders Hibs and her showing against her old side Motherwell was no different.

Offered a calmness at the back alongside a somewhat inexperienced defence.

Linzi Taylor (Hibernian): Speaking of an inexperienced defence... Taylor would surely rather be further forward, but she put in another performance out ofnposition for Grant Scott's side.

She excelled marauding forward, offering support to the midfield and getting stuck into tackles.

Kimberley Smit (Glasgow City): The centre-half fired a potentially priceless shot on goal late on against Celtic, which, after a wee deflection, found the net.

Up until that late goal she commanded the backline well and dealt with the hard-to-handle Noonan.

Nicola Docherty (Rangers): Unsurprisingly, the Rangers supporter starred on the big Ibrox pitch and relished the space that often opened up in front of her.

Linked up really well with Brogan Hay throughout the big win over Hearts.

Brogan Hay (Rangers): So good I've swapped her on to the opposite flank. It really was Hay's day on Sunday and she rightfully earned praise from head coach Jo Potter.

Two goals and an assist. Not a bad day at the office.

Hannah Jordan (Spartans): Has to be attracting attention from top-six clubs. The 20-year-old has had a superb season for Jack Beesley's side and played a crucial part in what could prove to be a top-flight status-saving comeback against Montrose.

Abby Callaghan (Queen's Park): Some way to mark your 100th appearance for the club.

The midfielder's finish in the 91st minute appeared to salvage a draw, but the Spiders went one better and found another late winner against Dundee United - just their third SWPL victory.

Abbie Ferguson (Hibernian): A bundle of energy up and down the right wing for Hibs at K-Park. Skinned many a Motherwell player in an enthusiastic performance.

Brenna Lovera (Glasgow City): The City forward had no right to open the scoring from where she did on Friday night, but it shows, when fit, she's one of the best finishers in the division.

Rio Hardy (Rangers): Has been forced to settle for substitute appearances of late, including in last week's SWPL Cup final win, but grabbed the opportunity from the start with both hands. A cracking double at Ibrox.

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Hibernian head coach Grant Scott: "I still think we've got a performance level to go, but Motherwell are a really good opponent for us, really difficult. They play some good stuff, so for us to come and get a clean sheet and the goals, delighted to win the match.

"People often say the timing of goals can change games, and that was massive for us. We know we're good at the back; apart from last week we don't really lose a lot of goals, so it gave us a real bounce of confidence to see this one through.

"I think when we get our noses in front, we are a good team.

"We're still dreaming a wee bit about where we are, and we're just taking it day by day. I think this period of the season you'll see all the top teams having to rotate their squads, we're heavily reliant on a set number of players in our squad, so to be able to give them a rest to today to freshen the others areas up, it was a real bonues, but we'll need them all.

"There will be talk, we'll just take it game by game."

Motherwell head coach Paul Brownlie: "It was a difficult one and a sore one [first goal] to take at that stage in the game, there probably wasn't much in the game.

"No, you don't get an explanation [on amount of first-half added time]. Very frustrating.

"I thought they players were good, even though we lost 3-0 against a good quality team who are sitting top of the league, there are a lot of positives to take."

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Celtic head coach Elena Sadiku: "The [small] margins in the game cost us.

"Brenna Lovera scores a goal that is not a shot, and then the set play, again, a situation where we can't clear the ball.

"I said it to the players, I'm proud of how they fought tonight and how they bounced back in the performance-wise.

"We fought really hard to get the goal in. We created some half chances that we need to deal with better. I don't think that Glasgow City is a lot in our box, to be fair.

"But it's just this season and these last games, it's just been post-out. It just feels like we need some luck, like we need something just to give us something in terms of margins.

"It's so harsh, it hurts so much, but I said to the players, I was really proud of how they took the tactical changes and how they fought so hard for each other.

"It's never beyond our reach. I think it's still eight games left, there's 24 points to play for. I said to the girls, we have an international break now, we have training tomorrow morning.

"We're going to fight hard because we can't surrender.

"We need to keep going and we need to keep pushing hard and that's what exactly we're going to do against Rangers.

"We're going to show up as a team again and we're going to fight really hard for those three points."

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Glasgow City head coach Leanne Ross: "The most pleasing part for me is that Celtic had pegged us back in the second half and we showed a bit of character.

"To make sure that when Celtic were on top within the game, that we've defended really well, we've limited their chances, and we've stayed in the game and then gave ourselves that platform to then go and score the winning goal.

"So that's probably the most pleasing thing for me because in seasons gone by, we've maybe come and performed like that and ended up dropping points.

"We know that Celtic are a good team, they've got good players, they're well prepared. We know that they're going to come out in that second half because they're behind and throw everything at us.

"So we spoke about it at half-time, we were ready for it. They've scored a good goal, we can probably defend better as you can any time that you can see the goal.

"I'm just really pleased that we've dug in and we've seen it out and come away with three points.

"It's going to be the same every game from here on in. They're going to be difficult, there's going to be points that are dropped everywhere. So we had to make sure that we came here and done our job tonight so that we can now sit back on Sunday and see what happens in the other games.

"That's probably the important thing, when you play first, you get the points so that you're not falling further behind when the other teams go and play.

"The top of the table is where we want to be. We were really disappointed with the result against Hibs. We thought we'd performed well enough to at least get a point in that game. We thought we were actually the better team in all honesty.

"We've learned our lessons from it and we've come here and put on the performance that we wanted to tonight to win the game."

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Glasgow City striker Brenna Lovera says her side will take wins any way they come as they edged Celtic 2-1 on Friday night.

Lovera scored the opening goal at New Douglas Park before Celtic levelled through Saoirse Noonan in the second half.

City won it with just four minutes of the 90 to play when Kimberley Smit's shot was deflected into the back of the Celtic net by Abi Harrison.

Leanne Ross' side sit top of the table, joint on points with Hibs but boasting a superior goal difference, before the Edinburgh side face Motherwell on Sunday.

"It was a little bit of a smash and grab at the end but we'll take what we can get," Lovera said.

"Moving out wide gives me a bit more freedom to drive at people and I love doing that.

"I was a little disappointed with my last two performances but I thought as a team we came out and put in a really good performance.

"We're delighted to be back at the top of the table and putting pressure on other teams."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Scotland interim head coach Michael McArdle insists the experience of playing elite sides is the only way for the national team to narrow the gap to the top.

Germany lie in wait in early April at Tannadice in the first of a double-header in Nations League A.

The Germans are ranked second in Europe and third in the world rankings, clearly presenting a formidable test as Scotland seek their first points after beginning the group with defeats by Austria and Netherlands.

"We've earned the reward of League A, so it's perfect for us now to go out and test yourself against that level," McArdle said after revealing the return of Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert for these fixtures.

"Testing yourself against the best, especially for our younger players, it's perfect for us to play and see those benchmarks.

"You see the difference between League B and League A. You'll get 30% to 50% less chances in and around the box. The opposition will have more against you and it's about that clinical action on both boxes.

"The only way we're going to progress to the highest level is playing them more often."

Recent results suggest Scotland will struggle to avoid dropping down to League B after this cycle but McArdle insists if that happens, they will be better equipped to deliver at that level.

"Absolutely, you've got to be accountable to that and that pressure is always a reward for how well you're doing," he added.

"If that was the outcome, then you have to then use that to dominate within, but also that's the last cycle before the [Euro] play-offs. Obviously, opportunity for qualification. So it's about hitting rhythm at that point as well."

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Scotland interim head coach Michael McArdle has been speaking with the media after announcing his squad for the upcoming Nations League double-header against Germany.

Here are the key points:

• Erin Cuthbert, Amy Rodgers and Sandy MacIver replace Mia McAulay, Eilidh Shore and Erin Clachers. McArdle is delighted to welcome back the "significant experience" of Chelsea midfielder Cuthbert in particular.

• He believes Germany offer the "perfect opposition" being ranked second in Europe and third in the world and also having 30 players represented across the Champions League quarter-finals as he looks to test Scotland "against the best".

• Despite Scotland narrowly losing their opening two fixtures away to Austria and at home to Netherlands, McArdle was "proud" of the performances and adds: "Fine margins, it's that both boxes again and you see the difference between League B and League A. You'll get 30% to 50% less chances in and around the box."

• McArdle pointed to Caroline Weir and Cuthbert as crucial to the development of younger players in the squad given their elite experience at Champions League level.

• He also insisted that if Scotland do drop into League B after this cycle they should be in a stronger position as a result of these games.

• On his future and interim role, McArdle, who was appointed in January, says: "It's been clear from the start that they would update me if anything changed. So the process is ongoing and we've planned for this to be ongoing as well."

The chair of the SWPL, Mary Galbraith, will leave her role at the end of the season.

Galbraith has held the position since 2022 and oversaw the "transformational growth of the organisation", including establishing new competitions and sponsorship deals.

Galbraith said: "It has been a privilege to lead the SWPL during its formative years.

"We have achieved significant growth and established strong foundations which will serve the SWPL for years to come.

"I feel that now is the right time to hand over the reins as the organisation enters the next phase in its development."

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Governing bodies have failed to capitalise on "key moments" to grow Scottish women's football, says Arsenal captain Kim Little.

The former Scotland midfielder told the BBC's Behind the Goals podcast that the national team's qualification for the 2019 Women's World Cup was one such missed opportunity.

A crowd of just over 4,000 watched Rangers beat Hibernian at Fir Park in the SWPL Cup final on Saturday.

The following day in England, Newcastle defeated Sunderland 1-0 in front of a record crowd of 38,502 for a Women's Championship game

"There are key moments in my career for the national team, qualifying for the 2019 World Cup and the Euros before that, where we didn't use the time well," Little said.

"[Moments] where we are on the big stage at big tournaments, then in the aftermath driving grassroots, the community side and marketing around our games.

"As a player I felt there could have been more done from governing bodies, marketing and commercial, to really drive that side of the game on because that's a huge part of sport."