Irish need huge improvement

It was a match-free day for Ireland at the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Milton Keynes yesterday but there was no rest for the squad who had a training session at the stadium at 8.30 a.m. before watching today's opponents Germany beat India 4-0.

Time, too, for the squad to have a heart to heart with coach Riet Kuper with the consensus at the end of the meeting being that there needs to be a dramatic improvement in form in their final two pool games and in the crossover matches later in the week.

If it seems a harsh assessment of a team that has taken four points from its opening two games - guaranteeing at least a place in the play-offs for the fifth and final qualifying spot - and currently lies second in its pool, then it's one Kim Mills, scorer of Sunday's last minute equaliser against the USA, supports.

"I suppose it's a sign of the times that we're feeling so disappointed but you have to remember we are an Irish side that haven't been beaten in eight games so our expectations of ourselves are high."

Having lost 3-1 and 6-1 to Germany and Spain in their last competitive meetings in Barcelona in January, it is however difficult to imagine even a vastly improved Ireland taking enough points from Pool A's top two to take an automatic qualifying spot.