Scotland’s men and women are in action again this weekend with the women’s outdoor squad travelling to Dublin and the men’s indoor squad Porto-bound.

Seventeen of the senior women’s squad from the recent Gibraltar training camp will make the trip to Dublin for a two-match series.

Missing from the Scottish Institute of Sport supported squad will be keeper Debbie McLeod who has been given leave to concentrate on her indoor commitments with the national team. McLeod has been pre-selected for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne so this trip represents the last chance for the other two named keepers, Cath Rae (Grange) & Carmin Dow of Giffnock, to stake their claim on a Commonwealth Games place.

Cat Forrest’s rehab continues following surgery on her knee, she performed well in Gibraltar and national coach Lesley Hobley is pleased with her progress.

Emma Rochlin’s return to fitness is going well but she is still not ready to return to competition. The only injury worry for the named squad ahead of the tour is Lou Carroll who is suffering from a ham string problem.

The tour comprises two Test matches against the Irish and Hobley is relishing the challenge that lies ahead.

"This will be a good test as Ireland represents a benchmark for us. We haven’t played them since the summer so it will be interesting to see how we have progressed. We have been putting together some good performances and we need to turn those into results now."

These will be the women’s last competitive matches before the final selection for the Commonwealth Games on 23 January.

Meanwhile, Scotland’s senior men are in indoor action as part of their build up for the Games.

National Coach Mathias Ahrens will be hoping that his relatively inexperienced indoor squad can build on the match experience they gained in Leipzig last weekend as they take on the Portuguese national team.

There are two changes to the team from Leipzig as Inverleith’s Stephen Dick has university exams and Gareth Hall (Kelburne) has work commitments. Western Wildcats duo Vishal Marwaha and David Mansouri will replace them.

The Scots will play five matches against their Portuguese hosts during the three-day trip.