SCOTLAND coach Anna Signeul could find a role for 19-year-old striker Zoe Ness when her side play Sweden in a friendly in Gothenburg tonight.
The teenager, who was brought up in Durham to Scottish parents, is most likely to come off the bench to make her international debut, but the absence of Kim Little has made a starting place possible also.
Little and central defender Jenny Beattie were given dispensation to miss the match, even though it is in an international window. They both scored in a penalty shoot-out to help their loan club, Melbourne City, beat Brisbane Roar in a W-League play-off match on Sunday night – and now have a championship final against Sydney this weekend.
Replacing Beattie, who would have won her 100th cap had she played, will be straightforward as Rachel Corsie can move back from holding midfield to her club position in central defence.
The most obvious replacement for Little, who plays in the centre of the attacking midfield three in a 4-2-3-1 formation, is Lana Clelland, but the Italy-based player was a late call-off through injury.
Unless she changes her formation, Signeul’s most obvious next choice is Christie Murray, even though the former Glasgow City and Bristol striker has yet to find a new club ahead of the women’s club season. Alternatively, she could drop Jane Ross back to No 10, with either Murray or Ness up front.
Ness has never featured in a Scotland squad before, but was a prolific scorer for the under-17s and under-19s, netting 30 times in just 37 games.
“Zoe is a good player – and very much like Julie Fleeting,” Signeul said. “She’s a target player with very good technique, and is a good header of the ball who also links up play well. She adds a dimension we don’t have.”
With the temperature in Gothenburg at around minus nine degrees, the match is being played indoors at the brand new Prioritet Serneke Arena, which has seating capacity for 3,000 spectators. The game is a sell-out.
Ross, who joined Manchester City in November, is one of four Scots to have moved clubs so far in the women’s close season.
Former Hibs player Caroline Weir has moved from Bristol City to Liverpool, goalkeeper and captain Gemma Fay has switched from Celtic to Glasgow City while Hibs holding midfielder Chloe Arthur signed for Bristol at the weekend.
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