FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier Faroe Islands v Scotland Tuesday, 6 September (6pm) Torsvollur, Torshavn

Pedro Martinez Losa has named his squad for Scotland’s upcoming double header – with a return for three familiar faces.

The Scots take on the Netherlands in what’s being looked upon as a competitive friendly, designed to ensure the players are as sharp as possible for the final FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier in the Faroe Islands ahead of the all-important play-offs.

Emma Mitchell, Fiona Brown and Rachel McLauchlan are back in the fold, though Christy Grimshaw and Jane Ross miss out through injury.

We caught up with Pedro before his media conference at Oriam.

Pedro, you’ve been able to add Emma, Fiona, and Rachel to your squad. What was the thinking behind that?

Rachel was part of our plans at the beginning and then picked up an injury that required a bit of time and patience. We were hopeful of having her back involved in June, but it was still a bit too soon. We didn’t want her to have a relapse. She’s back at a good level with Rangers and we have no doubts about what she can bring to Scotland. She’s an important player in the dressing room and on the pitch. We think the same about Fiona, who was also disrupted by injury. She has experience, offers versatility and is the competitive type that I like. We think she can also be an important player for us. Emma, I know very well. It’s a position we don’t have a lot of cover in. Nicola Docherty has done very, very well for us, but you need depth at this level. She’s another competitor, a warrior and that’s what we’ll need for the play-offs.

What was their reaction to being recalled?

I spoke to Emma and Fiona this week and Rachel a bit earlier, but we’d also been in touch around June. Emma joined us for the training camp in June and was desperate to be involved, but we didn’t think it was quite the right time because she wasn’t in competition with her club. Now the time is right. All three of them are very happy to have been picked, as you’d expect. It’s clear what playing for Scotland means to them.

How do you view the game against the Netherlands?

We’re going to train with that game in mind. We took the game because we want to expose ourselves to playing against the best teams so we can compete at the highest level. It was an opportunity for us that I wanted to take. We want to take the momentum from preparing properly for that into the fixture against the Faroe Islands.

You’ve already booked your play-off place for the draw on September 9 but, clearly, you want to finish the qualification campaign in the right manner.

It feels like it’s been a long wait, but I would prefer to be in the position of having already secured a play-off place than be one of the countries worrying about it going into the last round of group games. It’s exciting to think what might lie ahead. It’s given us a bit of breathing space to plan this camp properly and make it the best camp it can be, while observing as many of the other countries as we can. When it comes to the Faroe Islands, we will be totally focused on that game. There is no doubt about that.

Tickets for our match against the Netherlands can be purchased here.

Tickets for our match against the Faroe Islands can be purchased here.

Scotland squad

Eartha Cumings Liverpool Jenna Fife Rangers Lee Gibson Glasgow City Jen Beattie Arsenal Jenna Clark Glasgow City Kelly Clark Celtic Rachel Corsie Aston Villa Nicola Docherty Rangers Sophie Howard Leicester City Rachel McLauchlan Rangers Emma Mitchell Reading Chloe Arthur Crystal Palace Lisa Evans West Ham Lucy Graham Everton Sam Kerr Rangers Christie Murray Birmingham City Caroline Weir Real Madrid Fiona Brown FC Rosengard Lana Clelland Sassuolo Erin Cuthbert Chelsea Claire Emslie Angel City Abi Harrison Bristol City Martha Thomas Manchester United