Europe will announce the captain for their 2021 Solheim Cup defence on Thursday, with Catriona Matthew the front runner to be reappointed.

The 50-year-old masterminded a 14.5 to 13.5 point victory over the United States at Gleneagles in September - Europe's first win in three stagings of the biennial event.

The announcement of Europe's skipper for the 2021 event at Inverness Club in Ohio will take place at Gleneagles, with the choice of the Perthshire venue perhaps a sign that Scot Matthew will be given the nod.

Matthew also secured the winning half point when Europe enjoyed their only previous victory on US soil, at Colorado Golf Club in 2013.

She additionally has the support of four-time major winner Dame Laura Davies, one of her assistants at Gleneagles.

When asked in September whether she would like to see Matthew retain the captaincy, Davies said: "I would, yeah. I think she'd be very good.

"She's just so calm and collected in the way she does everything. She keeps everyone at ease.

"She doesn't get too worked up about anything, that's just her personality and that rubs off on the players.

"The communication was good, everyone knew what they were doing at all times.

"She had a couple of tough questions, and a couple of players were sat when they probably didn't want to be but that's part of being a captain.

"You have to be strong and she is. She might look like she just cruises along but if there's a decision to be made, she proved this week she can make it."

Matthew's biggest call at Gleneagles was to hand a wildcard to Suzann Pettersen, with the Norwegian having only played two tournaments in two years and ranked 644th in the world prior to the event after giving birth to her son.

That decision was vindicated in style when Pettersen holed the winning putt on the final green but, with the 38-year-old retiring immediately afterwards, she could be a captaincy contender should the Ladies European Tour decide against sticking with Matthew.