Scotland Aim for First Major Finals Since 2019 Under Coach Melissa Andreatta
Women's World Cup Qualifying Group B4: Belgium v Scotland
When: Saturday 18 April
Where: Den Dreef, Leuven
Kick-off: 19:30 BST
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Alba, BBC & website
Scotland's head coach Melissa Andreatta has stated that her squad does not feel any burden from missing out on previous major finals. Instead, the team has created what she describes as a "perfect storm" to advance in their pursuit of qualification for next year's World Cup in Brazil.
The Scottish team currently leads their qualifying group on goal difference ahead of Belgium, their opponents in Leuven on Saturday.
The two teams played to a 1-1 draw at Easter Road on Tuesday, with Kathleen McGovern scoring a stoppage-time equaliser for Scotland.
As Scotland seeks to secure a place in a major tournament for the first time since 2019, Andreatta is confident her players possess the qualities needed to progress without fear of failure.
No, the burden doesn't exist within this group,
There's a respect for what's happened in the past and I want to learn from it and do everything that we can to avoid that occurring again, but it's not a burden for us.
We're excited for the challenge, we're embracing it and together with some of the new faces and energy that's within the team, there's a great mix of that experience and energy that's created this perfect storm of power, confidence, strength and bravery that is going to move us closer towards the type of performances that earn you the right to be at those major tournaments.
'We've Owned It and Set That as Our Goal'
With significant attention on Scotland's women returning to a major tournament, Andreatta revealed that there is no internal discussion focused solely on achieving that objective.
I think because we've owned it and we've really set that as our goal now for us on the day-to-day front, it's all about the processes and what we can do within our control to put ourselves in the best position to earn the right to be at a major tournament again,
There's no talk about it at all really because we all understand and know it's our daily practices, our processes that are going to get us to the common goal that we all have for this great nation.
I think one area [of development since being appointed last year] was purpose and part of that purpose is really clarifying what we want to do and how we want to do it,
The how part is really being clear about our identity and Scottish football and what this team is all about and how they want to go about business.
I think we've really reconnected to that and you're seeing it in the way that they play, that they never stop no matter scenarios or situations that they're faced. I think that's been a key ingredient for us to reconnect to and give us an extra edge in recent games.
Andreatta also confirmed that Emma Lawton will be absent due to an ankle injury sustained on Tuesday. Additionally, Maria McAneny and Leah Eddie withdrew prior to the first game of the double-header. Kirsty Hanson has returned to the squad and is "fully fit and ready to go."
Belgium Draw Seen as a Positive Step
In the match at Edinburgh, Scotland conceded an early goal from a set-piece but dominated possession thereafter, culminating in McGovern's late equaliser.
I think the way we finished the game gave them even more confidence and belief in what we're doing and what we want to be doing across 90 minutes,
The positivity is growing and that was another step in the right direction for us.
It's a massive challenge and we're going to be asked to give even more in this second game. We'll be ready for it because we've done our homework on them and we've continued to focus on ourselves and sharpen different areas of our game and think we'll be even better than the first game.
