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Indian hockey midfielder Manpreet Singh has assured that the team is working hard in order to put up a good show at the upcoming 6 match away test series against New Zealand A and New Zealand national hockey team. The blues will play their first two matches of the 6-match series against the New Zealand A side starting from 2nd October and the remaining 4 matches against the top-tier national side.
The Punjab-based midfielder is confident of a good show in New Zealand and has termed the test series as the perfect platform for preparing for the Hockey World League finals and the Rio Olympics.
He said, “We have prepared a lot for the upcoming New Zealand tour and we are pretty excited about the tournament,” reports Hockey India.
Manpreet also stressed on the demands of the head coach Roelant Oltmans of scoring the much important first goal in every game and keep the pressure on the opponents. He told that the team is working hard on converting their chances in the open field as well as the penalty corners.
“We are confident of a positive result”
“The coach is also making us work a lot harder during our preparations helping to improve on penalty corner conversions and our defence. We are working on rectifying our mistakes as we would not want repeat them in the upcoming tournament,” added Singh.
The Blues are currently training hard at the 3-week preparatory camp at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi, from where they will leave to the All-Blacks nation.
The 23-year old is excited about the challenging conditions of playing at New Zealand's home ground as the conditions will be very windy and cooler than the sub-continent. He will also be looking to dominate the play from midfield as him and the skipper Sardar Singh will complete the much important link between the defence and the forward lines.
He concluded, “Playing in the opponent’s home ground – New Zealand – will be a tough challenge for us but we are confident of a positive result.”
The New Zealand side will also be looking at this series as the preparation for the Oceania Championships scheduled at October end as this will be their last chance to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
