Scotland Head coach Pedro Martinez Losa says home advantage in the women's World Cup playoffs is "a big boost" after being in the draw in the playoffs against Austria as well as the Republic of Ireland.
The Scots have to beat Euro 2022 quarter-finalists Austria at Hampden on 6 October for them to play the improved Irish just five days after that.
Scotland was among nine European group runners-up on the draw on Friday.
"We know that being at home is an advantage," Martinez Losa said.
"And that's exactly what our players need , that additional boost that the fans give them - and we will be able to make qualifying happen all together. "
Scotland currently ranks placed 23rd on the rankings of world football, beat 14th-best Iceland and 19th-ranked Belgium, and defeated 20th-ranked Austria 3-1 last time they played each other at the 2017 Cyprus Cup.
The Republic has never defeated Scotland in five games and has lost the last four times, but they qualified for the next round of playoffs as the third-best runners-up, three points over Martinez Losa's side.
"I don't think past matches will have any influence on this game," the Spaniard said. "They are two strong opponents. "
Read also : World Cup qualifying: Wales and Scotland find play-off opponents.
Scotland might yet have to face another playoff challenge, even in the event that they win both Hampden contests. Only the two highest-ranked of the three finalists, by virtue of their performance in their qualifying groups and in the playoff finals, will advance straight into the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The third team goes to the playoff tournament of the Inter-Confederation that will take to the stage in New Zealand and where they might have to play Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Cameroon, Senegal, Haiti, Panama, Chile, Paraguay, or Papua New Guinea.
At present, Wales and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which are battling on the same day in Cardiff in the race to travel to Switzerland as well as Portugal which hosts Belgium in their bid to take on Iceland and Iceland, are both just below Scotland at the top of the Playoff rankings table.
Scotland has lost in two major tournament playoffs, being defeated by Spain to be a participant in the 2013 European Championship and by the Netherlands in the 2015 World Cup qualifying.
Who is standing between Scots and the World Cup?
While Scotland qualified directly to their very first World Cup finals in 2019, Austria and the Irish are seeking to be in the finals at the World Cup for the first time.
Austria
The former Austria midfielder Irene Fuhrmann had to be satisfied with the fact that her team finished 2nd in the qualifying groups. They were second only to European Champions England as well as over Northern Ireland.
Read also : The football team stops in the UK to pay tribute to Queen's remarkable life.
They were also second behind England in the group and ahead of Northern Ireland at the Euro finals this summer, in which they fell to eventual runners-up Germany in the last eight games.
Martinez Losa describes Austria as a team that has "shown experience and competitiveness tournament after tournament," with a portion of their players competing at the top of the game throughout Germany.
Republic of Ireland
The Irish were coached under former Scotland director of coaching Vera Pauw and finished second in Group A, behind Sweden as well as ahead of Euros players Finland.
The most memorable result was a draw of 1-1 against Euros semi-finalists Sweden in Gothenburg, losing by 1-0 at home against Sweden, who are which is ranked third worldwide.
Martinez Losa is relishing the possibility of a game filled with "traditional rivalry" against a team that Scotland last defeated with a 1-0 win in a friendly game in 2017, but they "are progressing."
World Cup playoff draw
Round 1 (6 October)
Read also : The earliest evidence of amputation discovered in the Indonesia cave.
Scotland v Austria
Wales v Bosnia-Herzegovina
Portugal v Belgium
Round 2 (11 October)
Portugal or Belgium v Iceland
Scotland or Austria v Republic of Ireland
Switzerland v Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina
Read also : England Managers Sarina Wiegman, and Gareth Southgate pay tribute to the Queen who inspired them..
