As Great Britain enter the final stages of preparation for their FIH Hockey Pro League matches against the Netherlands on Tuesday 27 October and Thursday 29 October, we caught up with England and Great Britain’s Sarah Evans to discover how Great Britain was planning to counter the multiple attacking threats posed by the world number one team.
With 112 combined England and Great Britain caps to her name, the midfielder is well aware of the strengths of the Dutch. The last three meetings between the two sides have resulted in victories for the Oranje, but after a period of centralised training over the past few months, once lockdown restrictions eased, and additional time spent with Head Coach Mark Hager, there is optimism in the Great Britain camp.
What have you been doing as a team to maintain a sense of togetherness and momentum.
Sarah Evans: “While we were locked down earlier in the year, we really embraced the new virtual world and we were able to stay connected as a squad online, whether it was baking, doing yoga as a squad, stretching sessions, and quizzes. We stayed connected with each other, checked in with each other and checking everyone was okay during these uncertain times. But, obviously, everyone has loved coming back together as a whole squad and training together. We have managed to bring some of that virtual world into our day-to-day now, obviously having team meetings on line as well as being face-to-tac as squad has been really great.”
What will you say to the team to ensure they all get on the pitch full of confidence?
Sarah Evans: “We are really excited to get the games under way. We are very appreciative of the opportunity for these games to go ahead and we know a lot of work has gone in behind the scenes to ensure we are able to get these games going in the current climate. It is a long time since we played an international fixture so we will be going out there ready to enjoy the games. We all enjoy playing the Dutch, they are a great opposition. We know it will be a tough game but we are focused on what we need to do as a squad to get out there on the pitch and perform to our best. We have had a great block of training, so we feel really prepared as a team and we are excited to get the games going.”
What do you see as the strengths that Great Britain will take into this game?
Sarah Evans: “We are a high energy team. We are quick in attack and we have some brilliant ball carriers. We are also a big passing team, so we will use that in the speed of our attacks but also we want to be hard to beat and we like to defend as a whole unit. So we will really bring that as a strength to our game. We make it hard for our opposition whenever they play against. We are really looking forward to getting the games underway and we will just really enjoy them.”
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