New Ireland head coach Alexander Cox doesn’t think that the success of the women’s team heaps any extra pressure on his side ahead of the World Cup.
Ireland will meet Australia, England and China in next month’s tournament in Bhubaneswar, India.
The competition for Ireland begins on 30 November against the Aussies, ranked number one in the world, and comes just three months after the women’s side upset all the odds to reach the World Cup final in London.
"Maybe when the tournament starts people will compare it but I think we need to be reasonable and you can’t compare the two tournaments," Cox told RTÉ Sport as he named a 20-man squad.
"It also difficult to compare the men’s and women’s hockey.
"In this competition in India maybe seven or eight teams can become world champion.
"Therefore the competition is massive.
"What we can learn from the women is that you can dream big and that’s what we are also trying to do. We’re going to dream big and see what happens.
"I think there’s no pressure for us, more excitement."
Dutchman Cox took up the position in August and was previously an assistant coach with the Holland's men’s and women’s team, having won gold with the latter at the Olympics in 2012.
He says that he has always been impressed with the Irish mentality.
"When I was coaching with the Dutch I always enjoyed watching the Irish," he said at the press conference where Turkish Airlines were announced as the new primary sponsor.
"I always said to myself there were some countries that I would love to coach and the Irish were one of them.
"First of all, they go out there to win games and they go out there to give it their all.
We are delighted to also announce @TurkishAirlines as the new primary sponsor of @IreMenHockey pic.twitter.com/R0xF9le995
— Irish Hockey (@irishhockey) October 23, 2018
"That’s something that should be normal but, I said it to the guys a couple of times in the last weeks, it’s not always normal in sports and people are always willing to work hard but these guys in this team give it their all."
Cox is targeting a quarter-final place from their first World Cup appearance since 1990, which means finishing in the top two of Pool B or via a crossover game should they end up in third.
He will conduct a training camp in Spain next week, currently ranked at number ten, before confirming his 18-man squad with two reserves for the 28 November to 16 December showpiece.
Asked what would constitute a successful tournament, Cox said: "First of all that we play the game how we want to play the game.
"That means that we defend well as a team, that we can play some good counter-attack hockey as well and that we can have a good structure on the ball.
"Those were the three things that we focused on in the last couple of weeks, especially our defensive structures and our counter-attacks.
"If you set goals, we want to reach the quarter-finals and from there on we’ll see.
"To reach the quarter-finals, we need to finish first or second in our pool or third and then win the crossover and that’s going to be a massive task but I think we’re able to [do it]."
IRELAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers
David Harte, David Fitzgerald.
Defenders
Jonathan Bell, Paul Gleghorne, Luke Madeley, Conor Harte, Stuart Loughrey, Matthew Bell, Lee Cole.
Midfielders
Shane O’Donoghue, Michael Robson, Kirk Shimmins, Sean Murray, Chris Cargo, Daragh Walsh.
Forwards
Matthew Nelson, Mitch Darling, Eugene Magee, Alan Sothern, Jeremy Duncan.
POOL B FIXTURES
30 November
Ireland vs Australia (5pm local)
4 December
Ireland vs China (7pm)
7 December
Ireland vs England (7pm)
