And as Andreatta eyes up a place in Brazil for the FIFA Women’s World in 2027, an education in  how the game has developed will be the key for Scotland to get there. The Australian, though, has cautioned against a sole focus on qualification for the World Cup, insisting that it will take more than one successful campaign to implement the long-term scaffolding for the national team to keep pace with the acceleration seen elsewhere in the women’s game. 

 “It is never going to be about only one tournament,” said Andreatta. “We have seen that with the 2019 FIFA World Cup. It has to be a holistic approach – there is so much more to do than just make it to one tournament. It is about making sure the infrastructure and scaffolding is in place to support the sustained growth.

“So although there is a natural focus on qualification which we all want, it will take more than just that to have us on a level that we want to be at.”

Certainly, though, she believes that the squad she has at her disposal epitomise the characteristics required to push Scotland on. Three tournaments have come and gone since Scotland were last involved with this summer’s Euros another sore one for the squad to take, all the more so given the meekness of the play-off defeat to Finland that denied them their place. 

That cost Pedro Martinez Losa his job with Andreatta taking over at the start of this year. The spine of the squad is largely unchanchanged while the demands upon it remain the same. 

 “I sense a hunger and a real drive from the players,” she said. “They will all have gone back to dressing rooms and back to their day jobs in football to hear stories from team-mates who were at the European Championships this summer. They know what it is going to take to get to the World Cup and these game are about setting the foundations for that.”

This month’s game at East End Park means a return to Fife for Caroline Weir. The first Scottish female to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or, the Real Madrid midfielder has become the poster girl for the national team given her burgeoning status within the global game. Andreatta was keen to stress that it will take more than one player stepping up to the plate if Scotland are to fulfil their ambitions.  

 “It is so important for a new generation to have a player like Caroline to look up to,” said Andreatta. “She embodies so much of what is positive and good about this team. But it is not just Caroline. Players like Erin Cuthbert too embody the grit and guts and determination of a Scotland team and that is what we are going to need going forward. 

“There is a great camaraderie within the team and I think those values and that core can be so important in terms of what we want to build here. We ended on a positive note with the draw against the Netherlands before the summer. There are a lot of positives for us to go and build on.”

 Andreatta was at Hampden on Thursday night as Steve Clarke’s claimed what may prove to be three pivotal World Cup points. The women’s national team have toiled in the face of dwindling interest across recent years with Andreatta urging the Tartan Army to get behind her team the same way that they do Clarke’s. 

“There are two national teams and one support,” she said. “We want everyone to get behind us because we have exactly the same ambitions.  Wouldn’t it be incredible to have Scotland competing at both World Cups?

 “I was at Hampden on Thursday night for the game against Greece and I was just blown away by it.  The national anthem was fantastic and then the scenes at the end were incredible. I was delighted for Steve and for everyone connected with the team and it definitely gives us a taste of what we want. I really hope that people come out and back us. Having that energy inside a stadium can be so important and it definitely feeds onto the players.”