Wimbledon hockey captain Ben Marsden may not have seen much of his team-mates from who have been on international duty, but he knows the experience they will bring when they return.
Five Wimbledon stars were part of the England team that beat Spain 3-2 in the Hamburg Masters earlier this month.
The result meant that England, featuring Alastair Brogdon, James Bailey, Ian Sloan, Phil Roper and Michael Hoare, finished third overall.
They have now swapped Germany for the home soil of the Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the Unibet EuroHockey Championships.
The action starts tonight (Friday) when England take on Russia in their first pool game, ahead of games against Spain, Italy, Scotland, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
He said: “They have all grown in experience and have got stronger while being out with England – and that really helped our other players to develop.
“It’s been a busy summer for them so we haven’t seen much of them, but this summer will allow them to get lots of experience.”
He added “They bring a certain intensity and quality to training and this leads to the other players in the team really step up their game.
“The international players bring invaluable experience to the team.”
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