White upbeat despite British handball defeats

ROBERT White insists Great Britain's handball side will not let their country down at London 2012 - despite a run of poor form.

WE'LL IMPROVE: British keeper Robert White insists recent defeats have been a valuable lesson on the long road to London 2012

The British goalkeeper, part of the team that has recently played 16 games in 24 days, saw his side lose all three matches at the World Championship qualifying event last week.

In their final game Great Britain were defeated 35-21 by hosts Finland - a team the Brits had identified as a potential scalp before the tournament.

But the 26-year-old believes there is enough time to improve before their home Olympics.

"It has been a tough few weeks for the team, but we've come out of it even more determined to achieve our goals," said White.

"We now know what is required to make it on the world stage, and we've returned to our clubs with a renewed focus and drive."

The majority of the squad ply their trade overseas and the British team was only reformed in 2008, after 24 years out of international competition.

With the Games in two and a half years time providing the perfect opportunity to raise the sport's profile, Great Britain's performance director Lorraine Brown wants to ensure the youngsters in the squad continue to progress.

"We have a young group of developing players who are playing against seasoned international teams with greater experience," said Brown.

"We need to continue to support and nurture these players whilst challenging them in the real world of top international competition.

"We need to learn more from each game and increase the consistency of our positive playing periods so that we are competitive longer against the teams that we play against in major events."