Scotland's new midfield leader emerges

Scotland have confirmed their place in a World Cup play-off against Sweden, one of the more daunting draws available, and they got there without their first-choice creative midfielder. Caroline Weir was missing, and the void she usually occupies in the middle of the park is not an easy one to paper over against the quality Scotland are regularly asked to face.

Step forward Lauren Davidson. BBC Sport described her display as that of a player who looked "possessed," which tells you plenty about how she went about the job: not quietly covering a gap, but attacking it.

The understudy who didn't play like one

Erin Cuthbert, never short of an opinion on a teammate who's earned one, singled out Davidson's performance as crucial to the result that sealed Scotland's place in the play-off. When a player of Cuthbert's standing in this squad goes out of her way to praise a teammate publicly, it tends to mean something happened on the pitch worth talking about, not just a tidy ninety minutes ticked off.

What exactly forced Weir out of the side on this occasion isn't clear from the available reporting, but the result is the same either way: Scotland had a hole in midfield against opposition that could have punished it, and Davidson closed it.

Sweden now on the horizon

A play-off against Sweden is about as sharp a test as Scotland could have drawn. It's the kind of fixture that will tell Steve Clarke's women's side (and everyone watching) whether this version of the team can live with the continent's established names when there's a World Cup spot actually at stake, rather than just pride.

For Davidson, the timing could hardly be better. A breakout display with a place at a major tournament on the line is the sort of thing that changes how a manager, and a dressing room, think about a player going forward. Weir's return, whenever it comes, now arrives into a midfield that has a proven alternative, not just a reserve.

Scotland will need both versions of that midfield if they're going to get past Sweden.