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Australia women’s assistant coach Melissa Andreatta has been appointed Scotland head coach on a four-year deal.

The 46-year-old is the permanent successor to Pedro Martinez Losa – who left his role in December after failing to reach Euro 2025 – subject to the completion of visa arrangements.

Michael McArdle oversaw the first four games of Scotland’s Nations League Group A1 campaign this year, finishing off with Tuesday night’s 6-1 thrashing in Germany.

Andreatta has been assistant coach of the Matildas since 2019 and has also led the Under-23s since their inception in 2022.

Before joining the national team set-up she guided home club Brisbane Roar to the W-League Premiership title – which is now known as the A-League – in 2018 and was voted coach of the year in the country’s top division.

Andreatta is set to take charge of Scotland for the first time on 30 May when they host Austria in their penultimate game in Group A1.

Scotland, who are yet to pick up a point in the group, finish their campaign by travelling to the Netherlands four days later.

McArdle will return his full attention to his role as the Scottish FA’s head of women’s elite football.

Ex-midfielder Andreatta qualified as a teacher before becoming head coach of her former club The Gap, whom she guided to back-to-back State League Championships in 2007 and 2008.

She initially joined Brisbane Roar as an assistant before her successful spell as head coach, while also working with Football Australia’s technical department.

A near 10-year association with the Matildas began in a technical analyst role in the count down to the Rio 2016 Olympics.

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She was promoted to a full-time assistant with Australia after fulfilling various other roles and was part of the team that finished fourth at the home World Cup in 2023 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

For the last two-and-a-half-years she has also led the Australia Under-23s, with one of her priorities being to nurture young talent.

What is in Andreatta’s in-tray?

There is a lot for Scotland’s new manager to tackle.

There is no doubt the side is in a transitional period, with McArdle opting to use his short time in charge as a chance to introduce youngsters to a group who have largely underperformed when compared to their status in the game.

Often described as a golden generation of talent, the players who fell to their knees at Bolt Arena in Helsinki in December had just failed to reach a third major tournament.

For a nation who had made back-to-back finals before that, it has been a challenging few years.

Andreatta is noted for giving youthful players a chance, as well as being adept at working with a group brimming with talent. The Matildas crop she leaves behind have carried a similar heavy weight of expectation to the Scots.

Her immediate task will be picking the players up from their second-half collapse against Germany in Wolfsburg on Tuesday night.

An already bruised side took a battering and they now only have two games left to try to salvage their top-tier status in the Nations League.

They may need to take one step backwards again to get to the level they want to – and fleetingly have threatened to – but given the slips backwards they have made in recent years, it’s perhaps a necessary move to get back on the tournament track.

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The Magpies contacted police after the midfielder was targeted on Instagram, having missed a chance to put the hosts 2-1 up before the Cottagers claimed a late winner. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Willock praised the support from those around him and added: “When you have a good family, team-mates like your family and a manager you can speak to about anything, it makes it so much easier. “We had a meeting and the manager gave me comfort, that is why I have so much respect. I want to give the club everything because they have helped me Boss Eddie Howe was also quick to praise the midfielder as he added: “Joe has handled himself really well this week. His response to what he suffered was really admirable, he’s a very strong-willed person. “He loves his football and I think he’s just concentrated on that this week and tried to put all other distractions behind him. “It was a nice response from Joe – he let his football do the talking.” Howe made nine changes from Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final victory over Arsenal that booked a Wembley final date with Liverpool next month. So there was no excuse for a hangover for the Magpies, but they were rattled by a side full of confidence following an 18-game unbeaten run. Keshi Anderson, Jay Stansfield and Scott Wright went close as Birmingham demonstrated the rebuilding job done by Chris Davies since relegation from the Championship last season. The tenacious hosts, four points clear at the top of the third tier, almost forced extra time, but Nick Pope thwarted Christoph Klarer late on. But Willock’s close-range finish with eight minutes left was decisive, although Newcastle survived a nervy 12 minutes of injury time after Birmingham’s Marc Leonard was carried off in the second half with a leg injury. Davies remained philosophical after the defeat, especially when asked about Willock’s leveller. “I’ve not actually seen the footage everyone’s talking about – it sounds like it was inconclusive as to whether it was over or not,” he said. “In that case, it’s a 50-50 chance it goes in your favour and it’s gone in their favour. You could say it’s a bit harsh in that sense, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”  Birmingham were on their knees when Tom Wagner bought the club just over 18 months ago. Relegation followed the ill-fated and ill-advised appointment of Wayne Rooney but the shoots of recovery at St Andrew’s have been clear for some time. 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The 32-year-old striker has only made three starts since December 23, 2023 after suffering back and hamstring injuries this season and his return will give Howe much-needed options to ease the burden on key frontman Alexander Isak.

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