Scotland Futsal Coach Mark Potter today announced his squad for next week’s UEFA Futsal EURO qualifiers against Sweden, Israel and Armenia.

The fixtures in Sweden will be Scotland’s first international matches, following friendlies against FA Premier League North sides Manchester, Middlesbrough and Teesside towards the end of 2014. Potter feels that the matches against these sides have held them in good stead.

Potter told the Scottish FA website: “There has been a lot of progression since our first match against Manchester in November, and we could see that in the games in Perth against Middlesbrough and Teesside last month.”

Lessons have been learned from the friendlies, with Potter believing the players now fully appreciate the importance of focus throughout.

He said: "We’re fully aware of the importance of concentration. We’ve lost late goals in both games which has been disappointing, but the team have worked hard to remove these errors from our game.

"What is encouraging is that we are scoring lots of goals, so hopefully we’ll provide a threat when we face our opponents in the European qualifiers.”

Scotland’s qualifying group will be tough for Potter’s side, as they face experienced outfits fro Sweden, Israel and Armenia.

“Our group is very difficult, however. Sweden, the hosts, defeated Turkey 4-0 in their last fixture before the qualifiers. To not concede in a futsal match is rare, and it just shows how difficult they will be to break down. The very same can be said of the other teams in our group”, he said.

“We’re aware of the challenge, but we’re also really excited to play. It’ll be a great opportunity for the players to develop and play against some of the best in Europe.”

Scotland’s first qualifier is against Israel on Wednesday 14th January, kicking off at 16:30 GMT. Follow @ScottishFA on twitter for updates on the day.

Scotland team to play UEFA Futsal EURO qualifiers against Sweden, Israel and Armenia:

Goalkeepers   

Gordon McGillivary
Ben Tough

Outfield Players   

Mark Caldow
Ross Chisholm
James Grady
Garry Hay
Richard Horlock
Scott Lafferty
Andrew McCulloch
Brad McKerchar
John McLean
Scott Mollison
Graham Muir
James Yates