Denmark 2 - 2 Scotland: Gemma Fay injury on her 196th cap

Gemma Fay will have an X-ray after injuring her ankle. Picture: Michael Gillen

Her side were outplayed in the first half but the Swede sent on four substitutes in a pre-planned move and they made a huge difference. Scotland created nearly all the chances in the second 45 minutes and were very unlucky not to win.

The downside was a first-half injury to captain Gemma Fay, playing in her 196th international game. The goalkeeper went down heavily under an aerial challenge and had to be replaced by Shannon Lynn.

“It’s a shame for Gemma. We don’t speculate but she has gone for an x-ray on her ankle and it doesn’t look good,” Signeul said.

A misplaced clearance by Fay led to Danish captain Pernille Harder opening the scoring early in the game but a fine strike by Jane Ross following Kim Little’s equally astute feed levelled the scores.

Lynn had no chance of stopping Denmark’s second, a close-range effort by Johanna Rasmussen which gave her side a deserved interval lead.

The star of the show in the second half was one of the four Scotland replacements, Chelsea teenager Erin Cuthbert. She capped an outstanding display by scoring the second equaliser 19 minutes from time with a powerful strike.

She nearly scored the  winner near the end with a similar shot, but it rebounded back off a post and Ross just failed to bundle it home. “I thought my second shot was going in as well but in football you don’t get everything do you?” said the confident 18-year-old. “If it had, it would almost have been too good to be true.”

Cuthbert’s performance was one of just many positives Signeul can take from the game.