BASED on the evidence of Scotland’s three games in the Algarve, the squad can achieve Shelley Kerr’s target of reaching the knock-out stages of the World Cup. That is not as onerous as it might sound, as a win over Argentina – particularly if anything is taken from the earlier games against England and Japan – could be enough.

All four nations were involved in the international window which provided the last real competitive test before the World Cup gets underway in June. England won the SheBelieves Cup at the expense of Japan, Scotland finished fifth in Portugal, while Argentina lost three times in the Cup of Nations.

“This is a better squad without a doubt, than the one in 2017,” Scotland captain Rachel Corsie said. “The players have all developed in different ways since then. On top of that the younger ones who didn’t quite make the squad at the time, or who were just on the fringes, really have stepped up. We were also arguably missing four or five key players at Euro 2017. We’re much stronger now.”

Corsie might have added that Kerr has the side playing a positive style of football. The Iceland performance, when Scotland dominated the possession and pinned the opposition back, was, along with the home Switzerland qualifier, as good as the side have played under the head coach.

“We want to become better on the ball, and we were in that game,” Corsie said. “We were disappointed how we played against Canada because we didn’t feel we did ourselves justice in the final third. That was the big focus going into the game against Iceland and we imposed ourselves in that area of the park, which made it difficult for Iceland to get out.”

Kerr played a different goalkeeper in each of the three games and all did well. Corsie, pictured, and Jen Beattie are the obvious central defensive partnership, but there is all to play for in the full-back positions. It is impossible to guess who will start against England in Nice on June 9, but left-back Nicola Docherty boosted her chances with her performances in the opening two Algarve Cup games. She is a natural athlete who is strong on the overlap, yet was discarded for the best part of four years.

Sophie Howard and Emma Mitchell, who were the full backs in World Cup qualifying, were not available in Portugal, so Kerr's options in these areas are stronger than seemed the case at the start of the year.

Winger Lisa Evans (who has also played at full back for Arsenal) should also return for next month's friendlies, which, although not yet announced, appear to be against Chile and Brazil in Spain. That will also increase the already healthy competition in the wide forward areas, with Lizzie Arnot staking a claim for a starting place against England with her two goals against Iceland.

Assuming – and precautions have been taken to help ensure it doesn't happen – there is no repeat of the serious injuries which marred the three month Euro 2017 build up, Scotland will go to France in a far better place than was the case in the Netherlands two years ago.

The return of Kim Little, the emergence of Erin Cuthbert, and the growing international stature of Caroline Weir are just three of the reasons to believe there will be substance to underpin World Cup optimism.