Ireland go into their Hockey World Cup quarter-final against India confident that they can book a place in the last four of the competition, according to manager Graham Shaw.
Shaw’s team, ranked 16th in the world take on the 10th ranked India side, having already got the better of their opponents in the group stage of the competition and in qualifying for the tournament.
Ireland booked their place in the quarter-finals with a game to spare and have been the surprise package of the World Cup.
Shaw is hoping to see his side extend their stay in London and speaking to RTÉ Sport, he revealed that excitement is growing in the camp.
"It’s just pure excitement now at this stage. [We’re] just really looking forward to getting back out there on the field and showing everybody what we can do.
"We’re just counting down the minutes now until we get to this evening where we can walk out in front of a big crowd and hopefully enjoy the atmosphere and put in a performance."
When asked whether Ireland’s fine recent record against India gives them an edge, Shaw replied: "I think so, yes. I think that the group firmly believe that we can win this game.
"India are a very strong side, they’re ranked 11 in the world and they present very, very different challenges than we would be used to in the European game.
"We’ve beaten them in the qualifier and we’ve beaten them over here and we’re going to go in with full confidence that we can beat them again and hopefully reach the semi-final of a World Cup."
Ireland have already exceeded expectations in England and Shaw believes that the shackles are off his side now.
"There’s no pressure on us today," he insisted. "Nobody expected us to be here, nobody expects us to win this game, so we’re just going to go out there with a positive mindset and put them on the back foot and attack them as much as possible."
Follow Ireland v India via the live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the News Now App. Live coverage of Ireland v India from 5.45pm on RTÉ2 (push back at 6pm), with Peter Collins is joined by Kate Dillon and Lisa Jacob in studio, with commentary from Ger Canning and Sarah Scott.
