Bank on England

Nicola White and England team-mates go into the World Cup tournament full of confidence.

Hockey:

OLDHAM ace Nicola White will be going for gold in the Rabobank World Cup tournament in The Hague, Holland from May 31.

Jason Lee’s 18-strong England squad will be a strong contender to win the title after a hugely successful 2013. Leicester forward White (26) is hopeful of bettering a bronze medal finish at the previous World Cup four years ago.

White, one of the squad’s more experienced players who now boasts 117 international caps for Great Britain, England and the indoor national side, said: “I am really excited to have been selected for the World Cup, and with it being in Holland it’s going to be a big show.

“At the last World Cup, England finished third, and that was our best-ever finish, so to beat that will be a fantastic result for us.

“We are in a much better position now. The gap between the top teams has closed up, so every game is really tough. But we’ll be going into the competition full of confidence.”

All of England’s matches will be shown live on Sky television. The first group stage game will be against the USA on June 1.

Argentina, China, Germany, South Africa, and the USA are in England’s group.