SCOTLAND coach Anna Signeul insists the pressure is all on Netherlands today at Tynecastle as both teams battle to reach the Women's World Cup in Canada.

The first leg in Edinburgh is the first of potentially four matches the Scots girls must play to secure a place at next summer's tournament.

But Signeul insists failure to get there would be a disaster for the Dutch, who are ranked eighth in Europe at present while Scotland are 12th.

And that might just give our girls the edge today and in Thursday's return leg at the Sparta Stadium in Rotterdam.

Signeul said: "If they don't beat us, it will be seen as a great failure for them."

That has turned the heat up on her opposite number, Roger Reijners, who replaced former Scotland supremo Vera Pauw as Netherlands coach in 2010.

But though he guided them to the Euro 2013 finals, the former Fortuna Sittard player and boss could not match the third place achieved under Pauw in 2009. In fact, they finished bottom of their group and even lost to Iceland.

Since then Scotland have beaten Netherlands three times in a row in friendlies.

The latest was a 4-3 win in Cyprus, inspired by a first-half hat-trick from Turbine Potsdam striker Lisa Evans.

One player who didn't play that afternoon was the highly rated 18-year-old Dutch starlet Vivianne Miedema.

She was in La Manga helping Holland's under-19 squad win the European Championship, in which she scored six goals.

Signeul admitted: "She was the best player I saw at the finals. She's probably the best I've seen in her age group.

"Miedema plays with the carefree confidence of the young, but she is classy."

The priority for Signeul's side today will be to contain Miedema, who has scored 15 goals in 14 games since joining the senior Dutch side.

Her more established team-mates Lieke Martens and Marion Melis will also take some watching.

Scotland have their own threats in Evans, Kim Little and Jane Ross, who, along with Miedema, was Europe's top scorer in the qualifiers.

Evans returns to the squad having missed the final Group 4 games against the Faroe Isles and Sweden because of shin splints.

Tynecastle was the venue for the Scottish women's first play-off match, when a 3-2 win for Russia knocked their chances of qualifying for Euro 2009. The Scots won the away leg in Nalchik 2-1 but went out on the away goals rule.

Four years later Hampden Park was the venue for the Euro 2013 play-off match against Spain which ended 1-1 with Little netting a penalty.

The second leg in Madrid ended in utter heartache for Scotland when, tied at 2-2 and set to go through on away goals, Spain's Veronica Boquete scored with the last kick of the game.

The winners of this play-off tie will face Italy or Ukraine in the two-legged play-off final next month.