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Scotland’s Emma Mukandi battles for possession with Cortnee Vine.Credit:

The coach made it sound as if Kerr could even have been brought on in the latter stages against Scotland after her understudies had failed to hit the target in response to Nicola Docherty’s freakish,looping 47th minute strike.

“Of course,I have to admit it was a temptation to bring her on. It’s itching in me,and itching in Sam,but we’d agreed on a long talk last night that the best thing for her was to rest this one against Scotland,” said Gustavsson.

“She’s coming off an extremely tough game environment at Chelsea with back-to-back games every week for almost two months.

“It’s about the bigger picture. If it was me 15 years ago as a young inexperienced,coach,thinking that the short-term result is what matters,I’d probably have played her and risked the big picture.

“But now with a little bit more experience,understanding there is a bigger picture,I don’t want to win at the expense of sacrificing and risking key players’ health.”

Before Friday’s match,Kerr could be seen on the touchlines appearing to be moving a little gingerly,with Chelsea doubtless desperate that she is not risked in any way ahead of a host of key matches in the FA Cup and women’s Champions League semi-finals as well as the Women’s Super League.

But without the firepower of Kerr and the injured trio of Caitlin Foord,Emily Gielnik and Kyah Simon on Friday,the Matildas looked short on striking quality,apart from a sharp-looking Cortnee Vine,who struck the bar with one shot and should have converted another.

“I think the forwards did a tremendous job on the defensive side;on the attacking side,we struggled to activate them good enough,” said Gustavsson.

Mystery surrounds the fitness of Sam Kerr.Credit:Getty Images

There was,however,plenty of quality on show from full-back Ellie Carpenter,back in an Australian shirt for the first time in a year after her ACL rupture.

“Ellie brings a lot of confidence and energy to our team and to our backline,” said captain Clare Polkinghorne.

“She’s a very aggressive player,loves to get forward and she’s really hard to handle,so really nice to see her back and to have her back in camp. It’s a big boost for us.”

AAP