UEFA Women's EURO 2017 qualifier
FYR Macedonia vs Scotland
Tuesday 26th October 2015, 12:30 kick-off
FFM Training Centre, Skopje

Hayley Lauder believes that the opening two matches of Scotland’s UEFA Women EURO 2017 qualifying have highlighted just how many attacking options the team possesses.

Six players have contributed ten goals in the first two matches away to Slovenia and at home to Belarus on Friday, and the Glasgow City midfielder reckons this shows Scotland’s squad depth.  

Speaking in Skopje ahead of Tuesday’s qualifier against FYR Macedonia, she said:

“That six players had scored ten goals between them in the first two matches of the campaign really highlights the strength in depth we have not just in the starting XI, but in the squad as a whole.

“We’ve got 21 really good players in the squad, and we have a lot of creative options that can threaten any opposition.”

Scotland go into Tuesday’s match following an emphatic 7-0 victory over Belarus at Fir Park on Friday night, the first home match of the campaign.

Two qualifiers in a relatively short period of time can provide difficulties, but Lauder believes that the team has prepared in the correct way to ensure that they are ready for Macedonia.

“These fixtures present their own challenges”, the Scotland midfielder explained.

“With Belarus, it was our first home match, and we went into the game as favourites. That brought with it its own kind of pressure, but we handled it brilliantly.

“Having this match on Tuesday after the win on Friday is a quick turn-around, especially considering the travel time it takes to get to somewhere like Macedonia. We arrived yesterday and had time to rest, and today’s session was focused on recovery.  The players are feeling fit and completely focused prepared on the game.”

Macedonia have only played once so far in UEFA Women’s EURO qualifying, losing 4-0 to Pot 1 seeds Iceland at home on Thursday. 

For Scotland to return from Skopje with three points, Lauder reckons Scotland will have to replicate the style of football that dismantled the Belarusian defence in Motherwell.

“We expect the match to be a difficult one, and it’s likely we’ll face a similar style of play to how Belarus played on Friday”,  she said.

“The onus will be on us to try and break them down and create chances.

“To do that, we’ll need to look at how we did that effectively on Friday. It may take some patience, but if we play the way we know we can we know we can continue our 100% record." 

The aim for Scotland in this international week is to continue the 100% record in Group 1, but Lauder is insistent that nothing can be taken for granted if Scotland want to reach their first major finals in the Netherlands in 2017.

She said: “Although some may consider us favourites in a lot of group matches, we can’t take anything for granted. While it is important that we have confidence in our ability, we have to take it one game at a time.”