Scotland v Finland: ‘Togetherness has been key for Scotland’

“Togetherness has been key” to Scotland’s progress under Pedro Martinez Losa, says defender Nicola Docherty.

The national side are preparing for a two-legged play-off with Finland, with the prize for the winner a place at Euro 2025 in Switzerland.

The first leg takes place at Easter Road on Friday (19:35 GMT) – live on BBC Scotland, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app – before the Scots travel to Finland on Tuesday.

“We’re going into games with confidence but know they’ll be difficult,” Rangers left-back Docherty told the BBC’s Women’s Football Weekly.

“We need to earn the right to be at a major tournament and we really want to try and get on that flight there.

“There’s more excitement, I don’t think there’s that much pressure. Togetherness has been key to where we are. We now just want to take that next step.”

Scotland will be without captain Rachel Corsie for both legs and Sam Kerr says the Aston Villa defender is a “massive miss to our team”.

But Bayern Munich midfielder Kerr says the group have been boosted by the return of Real Madrid’s Caroline Weir.

“Caroline is one of the top players and a top leader as well,” Kerr said.

And on Friday’s first leg, she added: “We’re in Scotland for the first game and it’s an opportunity to make a mark. We’re going to really push for a good result.”