Hockey: Last chance for Britain in quest for Olympics

Great Britain are clinging on to their Athens dream as they head into today's final Olympic qualifier pool game here against South Africa with two chances to keep their hopes alive.

Great Britain are clinging on to their Athens dream as they head into today's final Olympic qualifier pool game here against South Africa with two chances to keep their hopes alive.

Winning with a four-goal cushion would keep them in contention for the top-six finish and definite qualification. Failing that, a draw coupled with defeat for Poland (who play the hosts, Spain) would be enough to scrape through to the play-offs.

The Great Britain coach, Jason Lee, is remaining confident, even though his side have managed only three goals in four matches so far.

"This is a classic British situation to be in, backs-against-the-wall stuff. There are not a lot of people better at this than us," he said. "The players know exactly what to do. There is no get-out-of-jail card, no scapegoats to blame."

Britain come up against a South African side brimming with confidence after two successive victories. On the plus side, Britain's injury situation is easing slightly, although the Guildford midfielder Guy Fordham (hamstring) and the Reading goalkeeper Simon Mason remain doubtful.