Kerry says England must start Euros with a win

By George Scott, Sportsbeat

ENGLAND coach Danny Kerry insists his side must get off to a winning start against Russia in their opening fixture of the EuroHockey Nations Championships in Amsterdam on Saturday.

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Kerry's women have captured bronze at the last two EuroHockey tournaments in Dublin and Manchester in 2005 and 2007 respectively. 

But having been pitted against Holland - winners of six of the eight EuroHockey tournaments since the inaugural event in 1984 - in Pool A, Kerry is adamant England must take advantage of their weaker opponents.

"We are looking to to pick up wins against Russia and Azerbaijan as we will need two wins to progress forward," said Kerry. 

"It's important that we maximise our chances of going through and we'll be targetting those games.

"We drew 2-2 against Holland in July but we rode our luck a bit there and we will have to play to our very best to be competitive. 

"But we are really looking forward to playing them in front of a big home crowd - it'll be great experience for our young players."

England have endured a disappointing season to date after qualifying for the Champions Trophy - an annual tournament for the top-six nations in the world - in July as a result of Great Britain's sixth-place finish in Beijing. 

The draw against the Dutch was their only success in a campaign which included a 7-0 drubbing at the hands of China and saw Kerry's side finish bottom.

But Kerry revealed his eyes are on the bigger picture - with the Commonwealth Games, Hockey World Cup and Champions Trophy all taking place in 2010. 

"Our immediate target for the European Championships is to qualify automatically for the World Cup in Argentina  by making the semi-finals - if we get that far we will re-assess our goals," he added.

"The team has got a good margin for growth because we are probably at the same place we were last year but with a younger group. 

"We have some excellent young players coming through like Susie Gilbert, Nicola White and Katie Long - they're starting to be competitive at a senior level.

"Next year is a really big year for us, particularly with the Champions Trophy taking place in Nottingham. 

"If we qualify directly it'll mean we have to do a lot less travelling in the build-up and will help our preparations."