THE feel-good factor which accompanied the appointment of Steve Clarke as Scotland men’s manager was reciprocated when he reached out to not just to the long suffering fans, but Shelley Kerr and her players.

I don’t recall Gordon Strachan saying he wanted to emulate the women’s achievement of qualifying for Euro 2017; the silence from other top men’s managers, and indeed players, tells its own story. It may nevertheless be a good omen for Clarke that Jock Stein, who shares with Alex Ferguson the accolade of greatest Scottish manager of all time, also embraced women’s football way back in the 1970s, inviting the national team to play at Parkhead.

It was a pointed gesture as the SFA at the time was determined to suppress the sport. In the aftermath of Clarke’s comments, Shelley Kerr reinforced the new spirit of mutual respect by pointing out that Scotland supporters, too, should be getting behind both their national sides. That something so obvious had to be stated says everything about cultural attitudes which still prevail.

However, along with Clarke’s welcome comments there has undoubtedly been a big spike in media interest since World Cup qualification. That, in turn, is leading to greater public interest.

An encouraging, and record-smashing, crowd is expected to turn up at Hampden for Tuesday night’s send-off game against Jamaica. Some 21,000 tickets have been distributed via women’s clubs, soccer centres and schools, while 3500 more have been sold through SFA channels.

On the only previous occasion the women’s team played at Hampden – the first leg of the Euro 2013 play-off against Spain – the official attendance was 4,058. The match was played on a Saturday against a full card of men’s league games.

That remained the record until 4,098 turned up for the World Cup qualifier against Switzerland in August. Such has been the upsurge of interest that if everybody who has committed to attending on Tuesday actually does, there will be a six-fold increase on the Swiss crowd.

Even if they don’t all turn up, entry is available on the night. Having heard Clarke endorsing the efforts of Kerr’s side, will the Tartan Army, whose support of the women’s team has been lukewarm, to put it mildly, boost the crowd size further?

LANA Clelland has already had the thrill of playing in front of a huge attendance this season. The Scotland striker returned from a six week knee injury to come on as a late substitute in Fiorentina's league game at Juventus in March.

There were an astonishing 39,000 supporters in the Allianz Stadium, nearly all of them supporting Juve as they eased to the 1-0 win which helped them retain the Serie A title. Another big crowd, this time getting behind Scotland, would suit the 26-year-old from Perth who now speaks fluent Italian.

“The noise, the atmosphere, was incredible against Juventus and it pushes you on,” Clelland said. “It will be our supporters on Tuesday, so it will be a great if as many people as expected turn up.

“It's also going to be a chance for different people to put their name on the team sheet for the England game in Nice – and a chance to go to France with a good performance and a win.”

Clelland has missed the last five Scotland games because of her knee injury, having scored a fine goal in her last match against Iceland in January. She returned to the World Cup squad at the expense of Zoe Ness, but competition for places among the forwards is getting tougher and tougher.

Even Jane Ross, who is the side's top scorer with 58 from 126 games, hasn't been getting a regular start recently. The training sessions in France are going to be competitive.