England head coach John Mitchell says his side will aim to “hunt weaknesses” that he feels remain in Scotland’s “improved” side in Sunday’s Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final clash.

The old rivals meet at Bristol’s Ashton Gate when the Red Roses will put their record-equalling 30-match winning streak on the line against a Scotland side who are appearing in their first World Cup quarter-final since 2002.

England, who welcome back captain Zoe Aldcroft to the line-up after missing the final two pool games through injury but are without Ellie Kildunne, are unbeaten against Scotland since 1999 and therefore big favourites to progress.

“They have definitely improved, which is great,” said Mitchell of Scotland, who won two of their three pool matches to qualify for the last eight.

“I think everyone has raised their performance.

“Clearly Scotland will raise their performance against us but there is still vulnerability within the Scotland team, there’s still opportunities to build pressure, so we will be hunting those weaknesses.”

Hosts and tournament favourites England won all three of their pool games and, speaking to Sky Sports News, Mitchell said: “We are in the stages of the tournament now where there is always an end point. So we’ve got to earn another week and that makes it really fun as well because you’ve got to make sure you get the job done.

“We have really adapted well [in the tournament]. We have learnt from different situations. We have had some injuries pre-tournament, some injuries in-tournament.

“We were a little bit untidy in the first half against Australia and we worked our way out of that really calmly.

“Those situations are really important to learn from and make sure you get better at them.”

Heavy rain and gusty winds are forecast to coincide with Sunday’s 4pm match but Mitchell says his side are well prepared for such tricky conditions.

“We believe that we can adapt to all conditions,” he said.

“We’ve got particular plays up our sleeve that allow us to be able to dictate opportunities at the other end of the field through the weather. I think we are well equipped to deal with both.”

‘They’ve not seen this Scotland before’ – underdogs relish ‘huge’ clash

Although world-ranked No 1 England are the clear favourites to progress to a semi-final tie against either France or Ireland, Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm believes her side represent a very different proposition from the past.

“This game is huge,” said Malcolm, who will captain Scotland for a record 53rd time on Sunday.

“Scotland haven’t been in a quarter-final for 22 years and I think it’s a different type of pressure.

“No one expects us to win and that’s kind of where we thrive. It is the biggest game of our career because we have a huge amount of belief in this team.

“The performances have built week on week while we’ve been here and to be at this stage, to be in the top eight teams in the world in a competition, is massive for not just this group but for Scotland women’s rugby in the history of this game.

“It doesn’t feel like pressure; it feels like an honour and a privilege that we want to go and do justice, so we are incredibly exited.

“I don’t think we have ever played England with this Scotland team and this level of belief and this level of unity. So it’s a different game and a different challenge and one we couldn’t be more excited for.”

Francesca McGhie, who starts at left wing, said: “They’ve not seen this Scotland before so we’re just excited to see what we can do.”

Meanwhile, Scotland head coach Bryan Easson said that while England represent “very difficult” opposition, his side have enjoyed an encouraging tournament and that “performances would suggest we are improving”.

He also took note of Australia’s approach in their early successes against England in the final pool game, before the hosts ultimately won out comfortable 47-7 winners.

“I thought Australia played well that first 40 [minutes] and did put a lot of pressure on England,” said Easson.

“They put them under stress, they put the maul under stress as well, which was interesting. So we’ve had a look at that and some other games as well where they were put under stress as well.

“So we are well aware of the opportunities but we are also very well aware of the threats as well.

“It’s always a pressurised game but probably a World Cup quarter final there is a little bit of pressure to perform on them as well. So we have to look at that and take every inch we can.”

England vs Scotland: How they will line up

ENGLAND

Starting XV: 15 Helena Rowland, 14 Abby Dow, 13 Megan Jones, 12 Tatyana Heard, 11 Jess Breach, 10 Holly Aitchison, 9 Natasha Hunt; 1 Kelsey Clifford, 2 Amy Cokayne, 3 Maud Muir, 4 Morwenna Talling, 5 Rosie Galligan, 6 Zoe Aldcroft (captain), 7 Sadia Kabeya, 8 Alex Matthews.

Replacements: 16 Lark Atkin-Davies, 17 Mackenzie Carson, 18 Sarah Bern, 19 Abbie Ward, 20 Maddie Feaunati, 21 Lucy Packer, 22 Zoe Harrison, 23 Emma Sing.

SCOTLAND

Starting XV: 15 Chloe Rollie, 14 Rhona Lloyd, 13 Emma Orr, 12 Lisa Thomson, 11 Francesca McGhie, 10 Helen Nelson, 9 Leia Brebner-Holden; 1 Leah Bartlett, 2 Lana Skeldon, 3 Christine Belisle, 4 Emma Wassell, 5 Sarah Bonar, 6 Rachel Malcolm (captain), 7 Evie Gallagher, 8 Jade Konkel.

Replacements: 16 Elis Martin, 17 Anne Young, 18 Molly Poolman, 19 Eva Donaldson, 20 Rachel McLachlan, 21. Alex Stewart, 22 Caity Mattinson, 23 Evie Wills.

England’s World Cup results so far

Scotland’s World Cup results so far

Women’s World Cup – remaining fixtures

Quarter-finals

• September 13: New Zealand vs South Africa (Exeter) – 1pm
• September 13: Canada vs Australia (Bristol) – 4pm
• September 14: France vs Ireland (Exeter) – 1pm
• September 14: England vs Scotland (Bristol) – 4pm

Semi-finals

• September 19: New Zealand/South Africa vs Canada/Australia (Bristol) – 7pm
• September 20: France/Ireland vs England/Scotland (Bristol) – 3.30pm

Bronze final

• September 27: TBC vs TBC (Twickenham) – 12.30pm

Final

• September 27: TBC vs TBC (Twickenham) – 4pm