HIBERNIAN goalkeeper Jenna Fife is expected to make her first international start when Scotland play Iceland in La Manga this afternoon. The 23-year-old came off the bench for brief appearances in two friendlies last year.
Head coach Shelley Kerr is sticking with her promise of giving all 23 players in her squad game time, which means the six who didn't feature in Thursday night's defeat to Norway are certain to appear. The third goalkeeper in the party, Rachel Harrison of Spartans, will, under these circumstances, make her Scotland debut, almost certainly as a second-half substitute for Fife.
Although Kerr on Thursday suffered her first back-to-back defeats since replacing Anna Signeul – the Norwegian loss followed a 1-0 reverse to world champions the United States in November – she says the progress of the side takes precedence over her personal record.
“I'm not really caring about me as an individual,” Kerr pointed out. “Although we go into every game trying to win, our main objective in La Manga is to prepare the team and do a bit of experimenting.
“When Gemma Fay was captain and goalkeeper she more or less played every minute of every game. We didn't allow others to excel and get experience. It's important that we learn from that as a national team.”
Having given the older players in her squad game time on Thursday, a younger side will take the field against Iceland.
Birmingham City's Chloe Arthur will collect her sixteenth cap on her 24th birthday, while Zoe Ness (22), Abbi Grant (23) and Erin Cuthbert (20) are all guaranteed appearances.
Cuthbert, who has become one of Scotland's most important players, was rested against Norway because she had come off the back of three games in eight days for Chelsea. The last of these, against Arsenal, saw her put in a player-of-the-match performance when scoring both goals in a 2-1 win for the defending FA WSL defending champions.
Unlike Scotland, Iceland have not qualified for the World Cup despite beating group winners Germany 3-2 away from home. They needed to beat Czech Republic in the final game in Reykjavik to reach the four team play-offs – but with the score at 1-1 in time added on, captain Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir failed to score with a penalty.
The two sides will also meet in the Algarve Cup at the beginning of March.
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