While some fine tuning might still be needed, England Women's head coach Jason Lee insists his side are going from strength to strength ahead of the Hockey World Cup in the Netherlands.
The team ran out confident 3-0 winners over Belgium in their latest friendly fixture at Bisham Abbey on Friday with forward Lily Owsley bagging the opening two goals.
Ellie Watton added a third shortly before the end of the match before the two teams played out a pre-arranged penalty shootout, with the hosts again coming out on top 4-3.
The sides will meet again this Saturday in a non-capped friendly fixture as England step up their preparations for the World Cup, which begins on May 31.
England won bronze four years ago in Rosario and will face then hosts Argentina along with China, Germany, South Africa and USA to begin with in Pool B in the Hague.
And Lee admits confidence is steadily improving among the squad of 18, of which half will make their World Cup debut in the Netherlands.
“There are still a lot of things to improve, but we’re making progress in all areas,” he said. “It was satisfying to beat a good team three-nil, especially considering that they’ve just come away from playing in the champions challenge in Glasgow last week.”
© Sportsbeat 2014