Hockey: Scotland’s women in good shape for European promotion bid

Head coach Iain Strachan believes Scotland’s women are in good shape for a European indoor hockey promotion bid later this month, despite Covid complications.

Scotland's women beat Ireland 2-1 in their three-match indoor series

Strachan blooded six new caps and experimented with systems and tactics during the three-match indoor series away to Ireland, which Scotland won 2-1.

The Scots are in Pool A alongside Poland, Lithuania and Ireland in Division Two of the EuroHockey championship in Ourense, Spain from January 21-23. Pool B features Switzerland, Belgium, Croatia and the hosts.

Strachan's goal is promotion to the top tier and he has two more training sessions before his squad hope to board the plane, Covid-19 permitting.

He said: “The last two days against Ireland were all about trying things and we did that. Winning was a bonus.

“We've got work to do before we go to Europe, and this was a bit of a scratch team because of issues including Covid-19, but they came through and this bodes really well for the future.”

Scotland men's coach, Stuart Neave, was also full of praise for his squad who beat Ireland 3-0 in their three-game series, with six under-21 players in the line-up.

He said: "The boys showed determination, particularly when they went behind, and they battled well to win all three games and I am absolutely delighted for them."

His squad don't have European action after it was cancelled because of the pandemic, but he added: "This was the first time that some of the squad have played at this level and we have undoubtedly found some new talent."