Scotland 'very lucky' to have Amy Rodgers as midfielder switches allegiance from England

Scotland Women’s National Team manager Pedro Martinez Losa has hailed the decision of Amy Rodgers to switch allegiance from England.

The 23-year-old London City midfielder has been included in the squad despite playing for the Auld Enemy in Under-17s, 19s and 21s.

She is one of two new faces in the squad with Rangers youngster Kirsty MacLean also included for the games against Northern Ireland and Finland next month.

Both are included for the first time and will join mainstays including Caroline Weir and Erin Cuthbert for the friendly matches in preparation for the Nations League.

Speaking to the media after revealing his squad on Tuesday, Losa said: “Kirsty is a youth player who has come through the system here, and we were following her very closely and now we have the moment and the opportunity to give her a chance.

“During the season she has been showing consistency and the capability to play at the highest level. She’s very talented and the challenge for now is to prove herself at the next level.

“It will be more demanding physically for her and more demanding tactically but I think she is talented enough to prove that she belongs at that level.

“Amy is an England youth international player, she is very young and very talented. I think she can make us stronger as a team and we are very lucky that she has decided to play for Scotland, we are lucky to have her now as we continue to build the squad in preparation for Euros qualifiers and potentially for the Euros and I think these type of young players can add a lot, but at the end of the day it’s about their performances and we will evaluate that.”

The Scotland manager also took time to pay his respects to former men’s team manager Craig Brown after the 82-year-old’s death on Monday.

Brown was the last manager to take Scotland men’s team to the World Cup when they qualified for France in 1998 and Losa hailed his influence on the sport.

He said: “I would like to pay tribute to Craig Brown on behalf of the staff and the players to an incredible man who built a lot of foundation for the game in Scotland.

“He said one day that when the greatest scorer comes to write against your name, he doesn’t mark whether you won or lost, but the way you play the game and I hope I have played the game fairly, honestly and diligently throughout my time and this is something for me that I always try to do and hope that in years to come we can follow that, as one team and as one nation.

“I was introduced to him once, briefly, but I never had the luck, like some people, to spend a lot of time in his company, but it’s about recognising him and his impact on Scottish football is recognised by everyone.

“It’s not even about style of play, it’s about who are and what you want your team to do and I hope we can repay that legacy in the years to come. He said he wanted to play the game fairly and honestly and I totally identify myself and my team with those standards.

“So we send our condolences to the family on behalf of everyone.”