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Indian hockey coach Paul van Ass has said the team has a stiff challenge ahead of them and added that they are putting in the hard yards to improve upon the weak areas, particularly in the defense line.
“Our easy-going days are over and we are working harder in this preparation camp. We are rectifying our loop-holes, especially in the defence line. We are reviewing our previous performances and working on various aspects,” van Ass said at the end of a training session on Wednesday.
India will take on Japan in a four-match Test series in Bhubaneswar, starting on the 3rd of May and speaking about that series, the Dutchman said that they were looking to bring in fresh players and also sounded wary of the Japanese, who are ranked lower than the Indians.
"I remember once Japan defeated The Netherlands in a high-rated tournament. We are studying their tactics and making strategies to counter them. We are expecting a good contest in Bhubaneswar.
"We are trying new players in the national team in the tournament and will give maximum opportunities to all the players to perform on the field. Though Japan is lower ranked to us, we are not taking them lightly. In this era of modern hockey, you can't take any team easy,” he said.
Preparations for the series has been going well: Sardar Singh
Skipper Sardar Singh said that the preparations for the series have been good and echoed the coach’s views about sorting the frailties in the defence line.
"The preparation camp is going good and we are working as per our Coach's strategies. We have few issues in our defence line as we concede goals in the last minutes. So our Coaching staff is working on that and solving those issues. It's always good to have many options in the team, which help us to implement our tactics on ground. We are not taking Japan lightly as they are a good team. We will play our game and play for win only,” the 28-year-old centre-half said.
“We all are focusing on implementation of strategies on the field, which is very important for us. We have brought back few young players in the team and we are expecting good results from them,” he added.
