Scotland's women face a double-header in their bid to reach the European Championships in England, which would be their third major tournament in a row.

They host Albania on Friday at Tynecastle, their first international since a 2-1 win over Northern Ireland in March, and their first game on home soil in nearly 14 months.

Four days later they travel to Helsinki to take on Group E leaders Finland.

BBC Scotland looks ahead to two crucial qualifiers, and some key decisions facing head coach Shelley Kerr.

How the group stands

Scotland are second, four points behind Finland, but they have two games in hand having only played twice so far.

Those two games could not have gone much better for Scotland. An 8-0 thrashing of Cyprus at Easter Road was followed by a 5-0 win away to Albania.

Finland needed a 90th-minute equaliser to salvage a draw away to Portugal, but have comfortably beat Albania home and away and were 4-0 winners at home to Cyprus.
Who are Albania and Finland?

Anything less than a comfortable win over Albania would be a major shock for Scotland. Ranked 75th in the world, they have already taken some heavy beatings in the group, including to Scotland.

Finland, though, should provide the toughest test of the group, although they are ranked nine places below Scotland in the Fifa list. The game will be a reunion with former Scotland manager Anna Signeul, who is now plotting Finland's route to a major championship.

Like Scotland, the majority of their squad play away from their homeland. They have players in England, Italy, France, Spain and Sweden. Paris FC's Linda Sällström has 45 goals in 101 caps for her national side, while 20-year-old Elli Pikkujamsa is one of the emerging stars in defence.
Lack of domestic action 'a concern'

Sunday marked the start of the Scottish Women's Premier League season, which has got under way over a month after many other major leagues in Europe.

That poses a problem for 10 of Kerr's squad who play in Scotland, with only one competitive game under their belts. Kerr admitted that it was "a concern".

It may not be a big problem for the game with Albania, but it is not ideal for the trip to Finland.

The 10 includes Kerr's first and second choice goalkeepers Lee Alexander (Glasgow City) and Jenna Fife (Rangers). It could mean a 32nd cap for Shannon Lynn, who plays for Swedish side Vittsjo and are already 19 games into their season.

New stars for Scotland?

Scotland have no shortage of players in form. However, Kim Little and Jennifer Beattie - who have both been pivotal in Arsenal's rise to the top of England's Women's Super League this season - have both pulled out of the squad injured, as has Aston Villa's Chloe Arthur.

Despite Chelsea's influx of big names over summer, Erin Cuthbert is still commanding a place in the starting XI and is in goalscoring form, including one at Wembley in the Community Shield. The ever reliable Jane Ross has also been hitting the back of the net for Manchester United.

Two other players who have stood out this season in the WSL are Everton's Lucy Graham and Manchester United's Kirsty Hanson.

Everton have a strong Scottish contingent; managed by former Hibs bosses Willie Kirk and Craig Roberts, while Claire Emslie has joined on loan from Orlando Pride. And they are enjoying a dream start to the season - remaining unbeaten in their five league games so far and reaching next month's FA Cup final. Graham has only just turned 24 but is club captain, and has four goals in six appearances from midfield this season. But for Scotland, she has only started three games previously.

Hanson, 22, has just one cap - she started against Albania the last time the sides met. But she has began this season well, scoring twice for Manchester United.

Three SWPL players were called up to Kerr's squad as late replacements. Hibernian's Amy Muir, Glasgow City's Rachel McLauchlan, and Rangers forward Zoe Ness.

Ness' return in particular is a welcome one. A horror knee injury last October has kept her out of the game for a year, but in her first competitive match on Sunday since returning to fitness she scored a hat-trick against Hearts.
History makers

Scotland are currently six games unbeaten, their best run of form since 2014. Avoid defeat to Albania and it will be their best run since 2010.

The women's side have never gone eight in a row without defeat, so Kerr's side could be the first should they pass both Albania and Finland tests.
'Albania a great warm-up for Finland'

Scotland defender Joelle Murray

I think Shelley will be happy with the way the games have been scheduled. No disrespect to Albania but that should be a nice opener for the team.

The girls haven't been together as a national team for some time now so that game will be a great warm-up ahead of the Finland game which, in my opinion, will be a tougher test. You always find the Scandinavian teams are more physical and athletic.

Even though it's a tougher test I think Shelley will be looking for six points out of both games.