Focusing to achieve consistent performances, says Indian hockey coach

Ahead of the upcoming two matches against Australia in FIH Hockey Pro League, Indian men's team coach Graham Reid on Thursday said that he is focusing on how to get consistent performances out of the side.

India will take on world number two Australia on February 21 and 22 at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

The side will be led by Manpreet Singh while Harmanpreet Singh will be the vice-captain.

"Players are very confident. We are training well. We are looking ahead to the match. We just need to maintain our tempo which we managed in our few last games. We have been working on our goal shooting and corners. Hopefully, we can do better and can convert the opportunities we get," Reid told reporters.

"Australia plays a little differently to what the Dutch and Belgium do. We will have a little different plan against them. If you look at pro league games, there has been a turn around in the second games. I am trying to focus is to make sure that we give consistent performances," he said.

The coach also spoke on the pattern of the FIH Pro League and said that the format gives an opportunity to each team to look at what their opponent is doing.

"Each team gets an opportunity to look at the other team. Sometimes this can work in your favour and sometimes it goes the other way. It is a mental challenge and it is the most important thing that we need to practice," Reid said.

Skipper Manpreet Singh, who recently won the FIH Player of the Year, said that the accolade will motivate him to do better.

"I never think about winning any award. But when I won the prize, I was a little surprised to receive the award. When the coach told me that I won, I was obviously very happy. Whenever you win such awards, it motivates you to do better," Manpreet said.

India squad for matches against Australia: Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Krishan Pathak, Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Harmanpreet Singh (Vice-Captain), Varun Kumar, Gurinder Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Manpreet Singh (Captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Hardik Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Akashdeep Singh, Sumit, Lalit Upadhyay, Gursahibjit Singh, Dilpreet Singh, SV Sunil, Jarmanpreet Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Ramandeep Singh.