Scottish Women's Football

Celtic women head coach Elena Sadiku described Sunday's 1-0 SWPL defeat by Hearts as the "worst performance" she has seen from her defending champions. (Record), external

Read Monday's Scottish gossip

What did you make of this weekend's SWPL action? Were you pleased with your side's performance?

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Elena Sadiku says Celtic are ready for "aggressive" Hearts in another big SWPL test on Sunday.

The reigning champions haven't been in league action since their 2-2 draw with Rangers on 3 October, but endured a tough debut in the Champions League group stage with a 2-0 home defeat by Twente.

Domestically, while Celtic are undefeated this season, they've dropped points to Rangers and Hibs.

Hearts, despite losing two games, are a point ahead of Celtic in the SWPL table albeit they've played an extra match.

"Hearts have been a great team so far," Sadiku said before Sunday's match at Oriam.

"They've been playing similar shape to us, they're very aggressive, good with the ball, so it's going to be a great challenge for us.

"We've been having great challenges so far but it's about getting back to focusing on what we need to do well to win the game.

"The squad is going to be so important this season because we have so many games.

"We already have a plan of how to exploit Hearts and be aware of the threat. We have a good idea of how to manage that challenge."

• Watch the game live on Sunday at 16:10 BST on BBC Alba, iPlayer and BBC Sport website and app.

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Rangers manager Jo Potter: "The positives I can take from it is that we got a point even though we didn't play well at all.

"I told the players at half time it was probably one of the most disappointing performances I've seen from them in my time here.

"I'm never happy drawing a game but at one point we didn't look like scoring at all so I'll take the point and move on.

"We seem to get ourselves in a little bit of a rut but we haven't lost.

"When you're not playing well you don't lose your games. It would've been so easy for us to turn up today and lose but we didn't turn up today and still got a point."

Glasgow City boss Leanne Ross: "I'm really happy in terms of the first half performance but Rangers probably took more of a handle on the game in the second half. All in all pleased we got the point.

"If we go in at 2-0 at half-time it could be a different story.

"We know Rangers are a free-scoring team, thy create lots of opportunities but I think we nullified that today.

"Both teams have got real quality, it's a real challenge especially when we play at Ibrox but I think it was just two good teams going head to head and hopefully good for everyone watching."

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

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No prizes for guessing the game of the weekend.

As Rangers and Glasgow City prepare to meet in a top-of-the-table clash, former Scotland captain Gemma Fay believes this season's SWPL is "wide open".

Reigning champions Celtic are already five points between leaders Rangers, but do have a game in hand, while Hearts are keeping pace with the 'big three' in third.

City make the short trip to Ibrox on Saturday to take on Jo Potter's unbeaten side having just suffered one defeat themselves, back on matchday two against Celtic.

Since then, Leanne Ross' team have rediscovered their groove, or as Fay put it on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast, they've "reinvented themselves... again".

It's what former serial winners City have to do to keep up with the big-spending Old Firm. Celtic have excelled in cherry-picking the best from the rest in the league - Shannon McGregor from Hibs, Emma Lawton from Partick Thistle and Morgan Cross from Motherwell - while Potter picks up the phone to her old pals south of the border.

Katie Wilkinson is undoubtedly one of, if not the, signing of the season. With 18 league goals by the first week in October, she's already proved her worth and then some. Not only against wounded animals, but she scored what proved to be a crucial penalty in the draw with Celtic and broke the deadlock against stubborn Motherwell last weekend.

That's what City have lacked. They've not had that out-and-out goalscorer who will net 18 in a season, never mind by the October holidays.

But with Brenna Lovera continuing her comeback from a horror torn Achilles injury, Ibrox would be the perfect stage to shoot City right into the heart of the champions conversation.

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It's another huge weekend in the SWPL and, as usual, we've got you covered.

It all kicks off on Saturday as the top two - Rangers and Glasgow City - meet at Ibrox at 15:00 BST. We'll have full live-text commentary right here on the BBC Sport website and app.

On to Sunday, and the pick of the card see Hearts welcome Celtic at 16:10. You can watch that game live on BBC Alba, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

Plus, all five Sunday matches will be covered with our live-text commentary - starting with the two 13:00 kick-offs, Spartans v Hibs and Montrose v Partick Thistle.

Queen's Park v Aberdeen is at 15:00, while Motherwell v Dundee United is an hour later.

And of course, Jane Lewis will be bringing together all the best bits with Sportscene Highlights on Monday at 19:00 on the BBC Scotland channel.

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Captain Rachel Corsie insists she will be getting along to watch Scotland as a fan while out injured.

The Aston Villa defender is sidelined until early December after knee surgery and will miss Scotland's upcoming Euro 2025 play-off against Hungary.

Although disappointed to be missing out, the 35-year-old intends to cheer on her team-mates from the stands.

"Since we've known who our opponents were there's been a good anticipation for the games," Corsie said on the BBC's Behind the Goals podcast.

"Everyone has wanted to start the season well because everyone knows there's some big opportunities around the corner.

"That [injury] is really disappointing, I've worked hard to be available for the national team so it's always tough to have to make that phone call to the manager.

"I will still plan to get along to the games and be in the stands for the home games."

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Motherwell forward Laura Berry has been named September's SWPL player of the month.

The striker, who also won the award in April last season, started the month at Rangers before joining the Lanarkshire side on loan on 13 September.

Berry scored eight goals in her four appearances across the month, including a hat-trick for Rangers against Dundee United, four goals for Well against Queen's Park, plus a last-minute equaliser against derby rivals Hamilton in the SWPL Cup.

Saoirse Noonan (Celtic), Erin Rennie (Spartans) and Katie Wilkinson (Rangers) were also nominated for the prize.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Boroughmuir Thistle forward Cara Borthwick has won the SWPL 2 award for the first time.

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

Hbs midfielder Rosie Livingstone admits she "blocked football out" during a frustrating six-month spell on the sidelines with a back injury.

Now the 19-year-old aims to make up for lost time - and she enjoyed an eye-catching return to action last weekend, coming off the bench to score an overhead kick in Hibs' 5-1 win over Montrose.

"It's been tricky," Livingstone said.

"I think over time I just blocked football out. I was very supportive of the girls but it felt more like I was a coach at times rather than a player on the sidelines.

"It was tough, the team have been doing so well and I started to wonder where I would fit into it.

"But it was good for me at the weekend to get back and make sure I'm not too rusty and get a good amount of game time."

We asked for Celtic fans' views after the 2-0 home defeat by Twente on the club's debut in the Champions League group stage.

Here's what some of you had to say:

David: Lots of positives to take away. We didn't look out of place in that company at all. Nat Ross and Emma Lawton were standouts for me.

Robert: Well done girls. Never thought I would see a Celtic women's team win the league, so to win that and qualify for Champions League group stage is brilliant and more than anyone could dream of, apart from the coach.

Chris: It's not just the Scottish refs that aren't up to standard. There were four or five occasions that the ref and the assistant couldn't get whose throw in it was. How Celtic never got a penalty a couple minutes from time amazed me.

Tam: Premature boasting of a super strong squad from Celtic coach was always going to bite her but what an experience for the girls.

Midfielder Natalie Ross says Celtic are "not far away" from competing in the Champions League after a 2-0 home defeat in their group-stage debut at home to Twente on Tuesday night.

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Celtic can walk away from defeat to Twente "with their heads held high".

That's the verdict of former Scotland and Hibs defender Joelle Murray, who insists Elena Sadiku's side did themselves proud in their first ever Champions League group game.

"They certainly didn't disgrace themselves," Murray told the the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"When you consider the magnitude of the competition, the first Scottish side to qualify for it since it was introduced in 2020-21, I thought they put up a really, really good performance.

"Of course, Twente had the lion's share of the ball, the lion's share of passes within the 90 minutes.

"But Celtic played well. They had their opportunities within the 90, it wasn't as if they approached the game from a negative perspective.

"Nobody likes to get beaten, however I think they can walk away from that with their heads held high."

Were you at Celtic's Women's Champions League game on Tuesday night or following the action from home?

We want your views.

What did you make of the performance? How do you feel about next week's trip to Madrid?

Have your say here, external.

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Celtic head coach Elena Sadiku: "I've said it to the girls, being in the group stage, being in the top 16 teams, it's a big difference to playing in Scotland.

"They should be confident. There are errors we need to fix.

I don’t know how much[more] people are expecting from us to be in the top 16.

"What we’re doing right now is we’re going to fight. We’ll try to do everything to get as many points as possible.

"In January or in the summer I don’t think anyone expected us to be where we are right now. I think we can really put in a better performance for our next game."