ANNA Signeul believes there is every reason to be optimistic after Scotland were paired with the Netherlands in yesterday's 2015 World Cup semi-final play-offs.
The Scots were also handed home advantage for the first leg when the draw was made in Geneva.
That game, scheduled to be played on October 25 or 26, will not necessarily be played at Fir Park. Although Motherwell hosted the Group 4 qualifiers, the contract did not include the play-offs and other options may be explored.
"Our first priority in the negotiations is to play the first leg on the Saturday, rather than the Sunday, because we want to have as many days as possible between the two games," Signeul said. "After that we can look at where we can attract a good crowd."
Italy will play Ukraine in the other play-off semi-final. Should Scotland beat the Netherlands they will again be at home first - with the Italians strong favourites to be their opponents for the final European place in Canada next summer.
Scotland have played the Netherlands six times since Signeul was appointed coach in 2007. They lost the first three games - two of them heavily - but won the three most recent fixtures, all by a single goal. In the last of these, at the Cyprus Cup in March, the Scots were 3-0 up after just 33 minutes thanks to a Lisa Evans hat trick, but had to survive a strong Dutch fightback before winning 4-3.
"We can take a lot of credit from these three games," Signeul said. "We go into this play-off at the end of a very positive qualifying campaign, where we won eight games and lost the other two to Sweden, who are one of the best teams in the world.
"The Netherlands also had a great campaign, winning eight, drawing one and only losing to Norway, who won the group.
"There are obviously advantages and disadvantages to playing the home leg first, but I think overall it is good because it gives us the chance to build up a momentum.
"I said before the draw that I didn't mind if we played Holland or Italy, because if we are going to qualify for Canada we are in all likelihood going to have to beat them both.
"They present totally different challenges. Italy are more consistent, tactically very astute, and hard to break down. Holland have more pace and we will have to be very wary of their speed. Given the two different styles, I can see it is an advantage to have been drawn against Holland in the semi-final."
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