Caroline Weir took charge of the Scotland dressing room in the aftermath of Friday night’s defeat to England at the Stadium of Light, according to manager Pedro Martinez Losa.
With the Scotland players irked that that a bold second-half showing brought no tangible return as the World Cup finalists took the points, it was Weir who was front and centre at directing the focus onto tonight’s game against Belgium at Hampden.
Scotland’s sense of grievance had been heightened by the failure of two penalty awards - one of which fell into the stonewaller category - and, with no VAR, there was no review of the incident.
To rub salt in the wound, England promptly went up the park and scored. As the players cursed their luck in the aftermath, Weir was out with the timer to make sure they did not get lost in overindulging their sense of frustration.
"Some players were complaining about the penalty and Caroline said 'that is fine, but you have until 11pm tonight,’” he said. “She said you can give yourselves a couple of hours to be disappointed and then you have to move on. I think it gave us some perspective on the game.
“There were a lot of positives in there and it is understandable to be disappointed about it but we have another challenge now against Belgium and it was important that we moved on.
“It was right to be frustrated but we had to make sure that the players were ready for the next game which is always the most important one.”
And Martinez Losa applauded Weir’s influence as he urged Scotland not to be shy about making their feelings known to one another. The Spaniard is keen to encourage an environment where players feel able to speak out, something that he felt was not quite there when he assumed the role two years ago.
"We felt that one of the things in this time when we first came in is that it was a very quiet team,” he said.
“I don't know if that was lack of confidence or if it was related to the previous dynamics in the team but we want the players to have a voice.
“I am the leader in one way but we do not want one leader. We want the players to lead the culture and lead the team.
"We have to get the best of everyone and not just one and that comes when there are leaders all over the pitch.
"The players need to embrace that idea. When you are playing in front of a big crowd, as we were on Friday night, you need to have that.
“There are quick decisions that need to be made on the pitch and the small details come when they can coach each other with the philosophy and the ethos that we have created.
"Successful teams have big leaders and that is what we want to see within the culture that we are establishing here."
Spurs striker Thomas revealed her sense of injustice intensified when she watched the incident with Bright back. And she has criticised the lack of VAR in the UEFA Women’s Nations League. The reason given on Friday night was that there was no facility for it at the Stadium of Light but Thomas was critical of the decision to go ahead without it given the magnitude of the games.
I was more annoyed when I watched it back," she said. "If VAR is there, I don't think challenges like that are happening. It would have been nice to have VAR in the game - if we can get some consistency.
"It's frustrating. I think if we're going to have it sometimes then we should have it all the time in these sorts of competitions. I think you are looking at a different game and different result if VAR is involved. We probably deserved a draw.
"We've competed against one of the best and we are going to build on that. We'll use that momentum going into Belgium.
"It shows how far we've come. We've played some better ranked teams and put on good performances against them. We go into every game with the mentality of must-win - that's what we want and what we're striving for."
