News

Lauder points to away form

Tuesday, 23 October 2012

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 Play-off, Second Leg
Spain v Scotland
Wednesday 24 October 2012, kick-off 6 pm
Pabellon de la Ciudad del Futbol 1, Madrid

Hayley Lauder believes that Scotland can take heart from their away form throughout the UEFA Women's Euro campaign and get the goals that they need in Madrid tomorrow to defeat Spain.

A 1-1 draw in the first leg at Hampden on Saturday means that it's still all to play for as the two sides vie for a place at the Euro 2013 finals in Sweden.

Hayley, who has spent the past year playing professionally for Aland United in Finland, said:

"Our away form has probably been better than our home form in the qualifying campaign. We scored in and won every away match, with the exception of the trip to group winners France. We came through tough away games against Wales and Republic of Ireland who were both fighting to stay in contention when we faced them.

"To get a draw from the first leg is a decent result. They played the typical Spanish game, and had a lot of posession. We've come out here to Madrid knowing that we are capable of scoring. We know we need to make one or two tweeks to our own performance but we believe that we can do it."

Hayley says that the Scotland players enjoyed the atmosphere in front of over 4,000 fans at Hampden on Saturday, and hopes that the pressure switches to the Spanish side on Wednesday.

"It was brilliant playing at Hampden, all of the girls really enjoyed it. It was the biggest crowd we have had for a women's national team match and they created a really good atmosphere, so it's an experience that we won't forget.

"The pressure might be on Spain now that they are at home, but I don't know if they will see it that way. They might be looking at it as home advantage. We know that we need to score, and they will be going all out to win in front of a home crowd, so it should be an interesting game.

Scotland are in a better position at the half-way stage than they were four years ago, when a 3-2 defeat at Tynecastle in the home leg led to Anna Signeul's side losing their Euro 2009 play-off against Russia on away goals.

22-year-old Hayley had not yet made the step up to the senior squad at that point, but she's well aware of the depth of feeling amongst the squad after missing out on the finals at the final hurdle.

She said: "I know how much effort we have put into this campaign and how much it would mean to all of us to make it to the finals. The squad put in that same level of effort last time round and the players have spoken about the pain of losing out so narrowly. I know how I would feel if it happened this time round after such a good campaign, so we're focused on a different outcome.

"We're definitey in a better position this time. The match is all-square. We know we will create chances and  defensively we were pretty solid against Spain at Hampden.

"We have the quality up front to score goals away from home and that's what we need to do."