Celtic Cup a warm-up for Chile

GORDON Shepherd takes his Scotland side to Nice for the annual Celtic Cup against Ireland and France (Wales have dropped out), in the build-up for the World Cup qualifier in Chile and Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Scotland have held the Celtic Cup for the last three years, but Shepherd's horizons go beyond Nice. "While it would be great to win this tournament for the fourth time, my main objective is to see the players on the pitch in order to finalise our build-up programme for the World Cup qualifier," said Shepherd.

An experienced squad – including keeper Abi Walker, Emily Maguire and Laura Bartlett who have all had recent Great Britain exposure – faces France today and Ireland tomorrow.

"The mood in the squad is excellent, very upbeat and responsive, they're a very talented bunch of girls," Shepherd said.