Scotland faces England in Cyprus Cupa

THERE will be little evidence of sisterly solidarity on International Women’s Day when old rivals Scotland and England clash in the Cyprus Cup tonight.

England haven’t lost a game for 12 months and will be looking for revenge after losing the last game between the sides. That was in the same tournament two years ago, when Scotland won 2-0 with goals from Kim Little and Jenny Beattie.

The Scots’ injury woes continue, with Little and Lisa Evans, who both had to be taken off in Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat to New Zealand, doubtful for today. Hayley Lauder is unavailable, while Suzanne Grant also missed training yesterday through illness.

A decision on Little, who had been looking forward to playing against up to six of her Arsenal team-mates in the England team, will be taken this morning. “Kim didn’t train today and we won’t take any chances with her,” said Scotland coach Anna Signeul.

“If she feels okay in the morning we’ll look at it again but she needs to get rid of this calf injury. She felt she wasn’t able to make a full contribution against New Zealand and she wasn’t happy with her performance. We need her to be fully fit for future games.”

England, who beat Italy 4-2 in their opening match, started with five players from Arsenal and brought on a sixth, Ellen White, as a second half substitute – one of three players from the English champions to score.

Trying to stop them today will be Beattie, who plays up front for Arsenal, but has been converted to central defence because of the Scots’ injury crisis.

Scotland’s under-19 women’s side, who beat England 2-1 in La Manga on Wednesday, are also in action today, playing Iceland in the Ten Nations Tournament.