Kerr: Sir Alex was very complimentary about the team, the determination, the stamina, the togetherness

Shelley Kerr had always envisaged the scenario she finds herself in on the morning of Scotland Women’s massive tie against Argentina.

With a group containing third ranked England and World Cup runners up Japan, the tie against Argentina was always going to present the best chance of getting a win, and thus the total of three points that could take Scotland through.

Four of the six best placed third-placed sides progress and Scotland fans have been calculating whether a win tonight will do. The answer will not be clear tonight even if Scotland win. Two one goal defeats and a one goal win could well be enough if results in Groups E and F produce just one more third-placed side with a worse record.

No points but a goal difference of 2-4 is probably above what Kerr expected after playing England and Japan.

Asked if she would have accepted that if it had been theoretically offered before the cup started, she was brutally honest:

“100%. I think (in terms of) scenario planning not in a negative way but we probably planned to be in this situation.

“We were hopeful that we would have taken something from the first two games but we always knew that it would probably come down to this last game against Argentina.

“I think it’s got the makings of a really good game because both teams need to win to put themselves in contention to go through to the last 16.

“So it’s got the making of a really, really tough game but an exciting one.”

She described the mood in the camp as “fantastic despite obviously two defeat against two top opponents.”

She also told the media that she had received a call from Sir Alex Ferguson. With a glint in her eye, she declined to share the entire conversation with the press:

“Well, everyone knows Sir Alex so I probably won’t tell you everything because he did say that he was disappointed with some of the decisions that were made against us.

“He was very complimentary about the team, the determination, the stamina, the togetherness in the team to finish so strongly in both games.

“He’s watched both of them, he sent us a message before we came here and it’s absolutely brilliant for myself as a manager for him to contact me and also for the players for him to pass on his best wishes.

“He’s going to be tuning in tomorrow night so it’s brilliant support from him an absolute legend.”

The Argentinians will be no pushovers. They have conceded just one goal in 180 minutes against the opponents who netted four against Scotland.

“The captain has got such a great footballing brain, she’s technically very good on the ball. The players have been well briefed on that.

“Every international team has players who can hurt you if you’re not switched on. Although we’re talking about our attacking threat, we need to be mindful defensively because so far in this tournament that’s something we can improve on.

“If we want to get a positive result we need to be switched on defensively and be aware of Argentina’s best players.”

Kerr has warned her players to stay realistic about how good they will have to be:

“I think a lot of people have been caught up expecting Scotland to win in some ways that’s good because it’s a credit to the players and shows what people think of us as a team.

“But in reality we have played two formidable teams so we have to be more attacking in this game against Argentina and I think we will have to at some point as well so it’s something that we’ve been good at across the campaign to get us here.

“I’ve no doubts that if our players are prepared well enough and bring their A-game then I’m sure it’ll be a positive result for us.”

Kerr has to find the balance between asking her Scots to be as disciplined as they were in the first two games, but allow players like Kim Little and Erin Cuthbert to unleash their full creative potential: