Aberdeen Women midfielder Eilidh Shore eager to make most of Scotland U23 opportunity

The 21-year-old was called up to the squad for Scotland's clash against Australia U23s in Italy on Tuesday.

By Sophie Goodwin

September 22 2023, 6:00 am

Aberdeen Women midfielder Eilidh Shore. Image: Shutterstock.

Aberdeen Women midfielder Eilidh Shore is eager to make the most of her international opportunity after being called up to the Scotland under-23s squad for the first time.

The 21-year-old was named in the U23s travelling party, alongside Dons team-mate Bayley Hutchison, for their clash against Australia in Italy on Tuesday.

Shore, who has been capped 15 times at youth level for Scotland, hopes to gain more experience of international football during this camp, having made her last appearance at under-19s level in March 2020.

The U23 squad was announced by the Scottish FA with the aim of bridging the gap between youth and senior football.

Shore said: “The jump from the under-19s to the A squad is a big one, so when I heard about this squad then it was going to be the aim to be involved.

“I’m delighted to get the opportunity. For me, it’s about learning from different players and getting to play alongside some of the best talent at this age in the country.

“The purpose of the under-23s is to get some good game time at this level, and then hopefully I can try push on from there. The focus for me is to go and compete and make a good impression.”

Shore keen to learn from Scotland team-mates

Aberdeen midfielder Eilidh Shore battles with Celtic's Jenny Smith in a SWPL match at Balmoral Stadium. — Aberdeen midfielder Eilidh Shore battles with Celtic’s Jenny Smith, who has also been called up to the Scotland U23s squad, in a SWPL match. Image: Shutterstock.

With a number senior internationalists also included in the under-23s squad, Shore believes the Scotland team has a good blend of different experiences.

She added: “There is a good mix of youth and experience. It’ll be good to play and train with different kind of players.

“Obviously with your club you play alongside the same group every week, so when you go away with the national team you work with different coaches, players and see different styles of play.

“I’ll be trying to pick up different things and learn as much as I can while I’m away.”

Scotland face the Aussies at the Australian Institute of Sport, near Milan, where Shore is expecting a tough test.

The Aberdeen midfielder said: “We’re expecting Australia to be a great team. It’s not often we would get to play a team like Australia, so that is going to be exciting.

“Their A squad have just done really well at the World Cup, so I think we are all expecting their under-23s to be just as good.”