‘Emphatic Scotland performances what we’ve all been waiting for’

Former Scotland defender Joelle Murray says back-to-back wins over Israel have given Pedro Martinez Losa’s side a “big lift”.

The Scots followed up their 4-1 home win with a 5-0 victory over the Israelis in Budapest, Hungary, to ensure a play-off spot and stay top of the group, above Serbia on goal difference.

“I think it’ll give the girls, the squad, a big, big lift,” recently-retired former Hibs captain Murray told the BBC’s Scottish Football podcast.

“There was lots of non-football chat prior to both games and the girls showed their professionalism.

“They showed that they can fully focus on the task in hand. And they’ve done that in emphatic performances, both at Hampden and in Hungary.

“I think these last two games really showed that cohesive performance that we’ve all been waiting for.

“We know individually there’s quality in those players but up until the last two games we’ve not really seen that kind of cohesion and link-up play.”