Scottish Women's Football

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Glasgow City head coach Leanne Ross is calling for a strong defensive display away to HB Koge in the Europa Cup on Wednesday.

The SWPL leaders are in Denmark for the first leg of the second round qualifier, with Ross warning that the hosts are "a threat from all over the pitch".

"In terms of preparation time, it's obviously difficult at the moment because there is a very short space of time in between games, so we have had to get a lot of information to the players," said Ross.

"It's about the details that we can give off the pitch. We put a lot of effort into that as a staff, without overloading them, and without disrespecting any opponent we're playing.

"We're giving every game we're playing its own preparation time and the same preparation, but when it comes to games in Europe and you're facing new opponents. It's exciting and there is loads of enthusiasm within the team to go on and put in a really good performance."

City came through the first round with a 6-0 aggregate success against Irish side Athlone Town, while they top the SWPL after six wins and one draw.

On Sunday, they enjoyed a 5-0 win away to Hamilton Accies in the Sky Sports Cup.

On Koge, Ross said: "They are very attacking-minded, very good in transitions, and they have got a lot of key players who we've identified, so they are a threat from all over the pitch.

"We're going to need to be really defensively solid, and then make the most of the opportunities that we can create.

"It's about making sure we've got something to play for when we come back here next week."

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Hearts will host Edinburgh rivals Hibs in the quarter-finals of this season's SWPL Cup.

Holders Rangers, who have won the cup in the past three seasons, have a home tie against Partick Thistle.

Current league leaders Glasgow City entertain Aberdeen while the only SWPL 2 side left in the competition, Queen's Park, travel to New Douglas Park to face Celtic.

The ties are scheduled to take place on Sunday, 9 November.

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Reigning champions Hibernian and current leaders Glasgow City both considered it a point gained rather than two points dropped as the long-standing rivals fought out a 1-1 draw at Meadowbank Stadium.

Katie Lockwood cancelled out Eilidh Adams' opener for the hosts and the former Hibs midfielder was delighted to make her mark after her return to the side.

"I was really happy to be back out there with the girls," she told club media. "We've got a lot of competition for places this season and it just makes each other better.

"I was just at the right place at the right time, I reacted to it and it's gone in the back of the net."

As for the draw, Lockwood said: "I feel a little disappointed just now, but it is a point gained.

"We were nowhere near our best and we know that. The goal we conceded, we must do better. We talked about it all week, set-pieces, and it was disappointing to let that one in.

"But we showed some good character. That's the first time we've gone a goal down this season and to come back the way we did was good.

"It was just unfortunate that we couldn't get a second."

Hibs defender Caley Gibb thinks the draw with last season's runners-up shows her side are finding their feet in the league after having European competition qualifying to deal with.

"It's been an extremely busy few weeks for us," she said. "We started with a small squad. That's a bit bigger now and we're all gelling.

"I think we deserved more than a point if I'm honest, but it could be crucial by the end of the season. We've got more levels to reach and we can achieve more this season."

City lead Rangers by three points in the Scottish Women's Premier League, with Hibs two further back, and the Leith side's head coach, Grant Scott, added: "I think it is a good point, but we'll see in the long run.

"That's two or three performances now we've looked more like ourselves.

"I think it was a reasonably good game. A hard-fought game, but I'm not sure the quality was always there from both teams.

"You never know how vital these points you pick up against your competitors are going to be in the end.

"We were here for three. I am not entirely sure we deserved it, although on the balance of play in the last spell of the game we busied their box more than they did ours, but there was not the best quality in our execution."

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Lee Gibson (Glasgow City): Some big saves and a clean sheet to prevent Rangers scoring and help City take all three points from Ibrox.

Emma Lawton (Celtic): A wonderful cross to Amy Gallacher from the right-back helped give Celtic the lead. She went on to prevent Montrose grabbing a goal back to give the visitors a big victory.

Kimberley Smit (Glasgow City): Played a vital role in a tightly contested affair, not allowing Rangers chances and ensuring City walked away with another clean sheet.

Katie Rice (Motherwell): Set up hosts' second goal as they moved into the top half of the table.

Jenna Slattery (Heart of Midlothian): Two second-half goals from the midfielder helped kick Hearts into gear after a goalless 60 minutes.

Ellis Notley (Hibernian): Netted her first goal since January 2024 with a close-range header. Two assists helped keep Hibs fifth in the table with a game in hand over three teams above.

Tegan Bowie (Hibernian): Was a driving force in the middle of the park. She was involved in two of Hibs' goals, delivering well-executed crosses, and had some chances at goal herself.

Carly Johns (Heart of Midlothian): Alongside Slattery, she helped Hearts score three goals in three minutes with two close-range passes.

Kirsty Morrison (Hibernian): Got Hibs up and running when she slotted into the bottom corner from a loose ball in the box. Had the chance to make it a double, but it was cleared by a Hamilton Academical defender.

Nicole Kozlova (Glasgow City): Was in the right place at the right time to tap the ball in at the back-post with five minutes to play to secure a potentially-pivotal three points for City and extend their winning start to the SWPL season.

Amy Gallacher (Celtic): Opened the scoring after nine minutes with a header to give her side an early lead. Another powerful finish in the second half helped Celtic to a comfortable victory.

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Rangers head coach Leanne Crichton: "Every game is important. At home you go into it wanting to maximise the opportunity so we're frustrated we've got nothing to show. I don't think there was an awful lot between the sides.

"We had three or four decent chances and if we'd got our noses in front it could have given us that edge.

"The frustration is we didn't defend the box properly [for the goal]. We're super disappointed and the biggest frustration is the lack of points today."

Glasgow City boss Leanne Ross: "It's still early in the season, it's the first time the teams have played each other and to be honest I don't think we played particularly well.

"Defensively I thought we were solid and I think that goes a long way when you come and play a team like Rangers.

"Rangers have got a real attacking threat, they're particularly good in the wide areas so that was a big focus for us during the week and I thought we handled it well."

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Motherwell manager Paul Brownlie: "It was an impressive performance and a big three points for us in the context of the season. It was a game we knew we had to win and the players delivered.

"We were really aggressive and went after Aberdeen really high. We put Aberdeen on the back foot and you could see the intensity of our press was there.

"There's no easy games in this league, it's really hard to win games and we know that as a group. We want to build momentum and a bit of rhythm as well."

Aberdeen boss Scott Booth: "I think we dropped our standards. We've had some tough games but I think we've proved we can be organised, connected and have a bit of a threat but we were a little bit all over the place today [Sunday].

"It's been tough to watch. We just didn't do what we had worked on in training and it's a lesson.

"It was a tough game because we didn't do the things we should and Motherwell took advantage of that. We pretty much gave them two goals in the first half."

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Partick Thistle head coach David Elliot: "Goals definitely change games. We seemed to work really hard for 60 minutes and stop the efforts on goal.

"After then, we broke down. We lost the first goal and managed to regroup but after the second goal went in, we let too many crosses in the box and they scored from a couple of them.

"Hearts took inspiration and confidence from their goals so things got difficult after that.

"We can definitely take positives and we'll move on and the negatives we'll fix."

Hearts manager Eva Olid: "The first half we were playing well, it was just the end product so we were frustrated but once the goal came we were good.

"The subs really made a difference. They came with a lot of energy and that helped to score the goals.

"After last week, we needed these three points and they help us grow in confidence to continue and keep fighting for our objective."

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Hibernian boss Grant Scott: "Getting the three points is important for us. The clean sheet and a number of goals sets us up well for a tough midweek game against Glasgow City.

"Year on year we've improved our squad here. It's massively important that we have that depth of squad to rotate around, freshen things up and change the dynamics week on week.

"We were delighted to get ourselves in front and be able to do that."

Hamilton Academical manager Robert Watson: "Hibs were very good today and made things very tough for us.

"We must find a way to defend set plays better. Of the five goals, three were set plays.

"In the second half, we spoke about being better in possession and we were able to fashion a couple of half chances.

"There is positives to take despite the scoreline today.

"We've shown up well against the full-time teams so far. The scoreline was probably a reflection on the game because we didn't defend set plays well enough.

"We have to keep believing because there has been moments where we should have scored."

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Montrose manager Craig Feroz: "It's hard because there's frustration.

"In the first half, there wasn't much in it and in the second half, we were still in the game. Celtic are clinical, they took their chances.

"I thought we were totally in the game, we had a couple of chances and shots on target but the second goal killed the game."

Celtic head coach Elena Sadiku: "We had a weak first half, second half much better and you can see that in the scoreline at the end.

"Really happy with scoring four and we didn't concede any today so happy with that too.

"Our delivering of set plays was really good today, we could have maybe scored one more.

"It's really nice to Saoirse Noonan back in the squad because she's really important for us."

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

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When Scott Booth vacated his position as Leanne Ross' assistant at Glasgow City, there was only one replacement.

Namesake, national team room-mate and old Petershill Park pal, Leanne Crichton.

Upon her arrival, Ross said she didn't think there was "anybody else better in terms of knowing me" to be her go-to.

"She's somebody that I can trust and challenge me and the group in the right way which I know is important.''

Under a year on, she faces a new challenge. Coming up against Crichton.

After helping guide City to a second-place finish in the SWPL last season, Crichton broke up the good cop/band cop duo and became a head coach in her own right at Rangers.

Ross' City make the short trip to Ibrox on Sunday to take on Crichton's table-toppers.

Both will do all they can to switch the narrative from themselves to their teams, but that's unlikely.

Two former Scotland internationals, who are making moves in management, is something to sit up and pay attention too.

Throw in their almost-telepathic understanding of each other and shared competitiveness, it could be something special.

"When she was here we probably knew what each other were thinking – we just had to look at each other and we were making decisions just by that look," Ross said of her "good friend".

"Lets see how that goes on Sunday and see if we can get a wee read on each other."

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Rangers women's managing director Donald Gillies has been hugely impressed with how head coach Leanne Crichton has adapted to life at the club.

Crichton was appointed at the start of August after spells as assistant head coach with Motherwell and Glasgow City and has got off to a flying start with five wins and one draw in her opening six SWPL fixtures as her side sit stop of the top flight table.

"Leanne had to come in and hit the ground at a sprint, never mind running," Gillies told RangersTV, external.

"She has been fantastic, really strong. She is everything that we saw during the interview and recruitment process.

"She has come in and she has put her own identity into the style of play and into the systems that she wants to work through but she has also had to cope with unexpected player departures.

"She has worked really closely on the recruitment side of things in order to bring in players that suit the way that she wants to play, and on top of that, getting to know the cadence of a club that has a lot of things going on and a staffing group that she hasn't necessarily worked with before on a larger scale.

"She has been really strong; it has been a pleasure to see her work over the last six weeks or so. She is only really getting started.

"I would even go as far as to say she is still playing catch-up to a degree of what she wants to see happening, which will be a process for her, but certainly the way that Leanne has gone about her business is everything that we had expected and more."

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Last season's SWPL was won by three points. The season before that, it was goal difference.

In 2023, Glasgow City's last title win went right down to the dying minutes with the most dramatic of final day goals from Lauren Davidson.

They came close to a 17th league win in May, but ultimately finished three points short of Hibs in second.

Two goalless draws with Hearts stood out in an otherwise strong season.

Finding the back of the net is, obviously, imperative in any league, but it appears to have an extra-importance in this unbelievably tight at the top league.

Two years ago in their title-win, both Celtic and Rangers scored more goals than the Petershill club.

Leanne Ross' side are doing their best at ensuring that's not the case this term.

City have 15 goals in five league games already - only four off Rangers and Celtic who have both played an extra game.

And they put six past Athlone Town in the their two-legged Europa Cup tie.

Sofia Maatta set up all three in the first leg, and has a further three in the league. The winger has made an electric start to the season, while summer signing, Scotland international Abi Harrison, has three goals in five games and fellow striker Nicole Kozlova sits with four in four SWPL games.

It goes beyond the front line for Ross' side, as midfielder Natalia Wrobel has two goals and an assist in four league starts while former Hearts star Katie Lockwood has one goal and two assists in just three league starts.

City are one of three teams (Hearts and Rangers) to have scored in every league game this term and they're the only top-flight team to have scored in every half of football they've played.

Should City can keep things clicking in front of goal they could be looking at a very successful season.