Czech

Erin Cuthbert expressed joy and relief at making her first appearance of the season in Scotland’s impressive 2-0 win over the Czech Republic.

By winning the Women’s World Cup round-one play-off away leg, the Scots are well set up for the return in Paisley on Tuesday, with Sweden the likely opponent for the team that progresses.

Chelsea captain Cuthbert, 28, is yet to feature at club level this season following a knee injury and came on as a substitute in Pardubice. Fellow sub Claire Emslie finished superbly for the Scots’ second after captain Caroline Weir’s stunning opener.

“It’s so good,” Cuthbert told BBC Scotland.

“It’s been such a long summer. It’s always great to come on and play for my country again – I’ll never take it for granted when I get a serious injury.

“I’m just glad to get back on a football pitch. The relief, the amount of self-doubt that you have, the amount of stress – am I going to be back to the same level, how am I going to perform, is my knee going to be alright? All those things run through your head.

“It was a bad one. I was in crutches and a brace for the best part of a month. I lost a fair amount of muscle and over the summer I was trying to rebuild all of that again.

“It’s been a really, really hard journey.”

Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott has withdrawn from the England squad to face the Czech Republic on Tuesday with a thigh injury.

The 23-year-old is set to be out for six to eight weeks with the quadriceps issue.

Scott was excellent on his full debut as England defeated Croatia 7-0 in the Nations League on Saturday.

He felt the issue prior to the match, but played 70 minutes in central midfield alongside Elliot Anderson before being substituted.

Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa has also been ruled out of the fixture at Wembley as a precautionary measure, with the 28-year-old to return to the Premier League champions for treatment on an injury.

Bournemouth are due to play nine games between 10 October and 8 November.

Alongside their weekend Premier League commitments, they will play on Wednesday or Thursday for four consecutive weeks, facing Sturm Graz, AC Milan and Sparta Prague in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

England coach Thomas Tuchel was effusive in his praise for Scott after the Croatia match.

“First start and what a start, what a performance,” said Tuchel. “He is so smooth on the ball, his decision making is at the highest level.

“He plays with so much confidence. He is so active, so confident. The work rate off the ball.

“He is just the complete package. He gave us a lot of mobility and a lot of variety and work rate in the centre of the pitch.”

Scott made his England debut in a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic in Prague on Tuesday, before his full debut four days later.

He joins French forward Eli Junior Kroupi on Bournemouth’s injury list, with the 20-year-old still unavailable after sustaining a foot problem in pre-season.

The Cherries are 17th in the Premier League and are winless after five matches, drawing three times and losing twice.

Marco Rose’s side defeated Lincoln to progress in the EFL Cup, and won 2-1 at La Liga side Real Sociedad on their European debut.

They return to Premier League action at Chelsea on Saturday (15:00 BST) and play Sunderland, Manchester United, Leeds and Ipswich prior to the November international break.

Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter lost their respective singles matches as Great Britain were beaten by a strong Czech Republic side in the Billie Jean King Cup quarter-finals.

Anne Keothavong’s team headed into the tie as underdogs, with all five Czech players placed higher in the singles rankings than any of the British squad.

Sonay Kartal produced a gritty performance as she returned to tennis after six months out with a lower back injury, but fell to a narrow 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-4 defeat in a marathon three-hour encounter with Marie Bouzkova.

Boulter could do little to get Britain back into the best-of-three tie as she was outplayed 6-2 7-6 (7-3) by Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova.

It was a second successive loss for Boulter at the hands of a Czech player, coming just three weeks after a 58-minute demolition by Karolina Muchova at the US Open.

It is the first time since 2023 that Britain have failed to reach the semi-finals at the Billie Jean King Cup and their wait for a maiden title will go on for another year.

The Czech Republic, who are 11-time winners of the tournament and the only team boasting two top-10 players at the Finals, will face either Kazakhstan or Spain in Friday’s semi-finals.