Rourkela: England can be harder opponents than Spain whom India outclassed 2-0 of their opening World Cup match and the house staff can’t decrease its guard within the second group match on Sunday, head coach Graham Reid mentioned.

Local hero Amit Rohidas and midfielder Hardik Singh scored in India’s dominant win in opposition to Spain on Friday. A win in opposition to England, ranked fifth on the planet, on Sunday will assist India put one foot within the quarterfinals as they will again themselves to beat Wales of their last Pool D match.

India are ranked sixth on the planet whereas Wales are fifteenth.

“We are up against England next and it will be tougher, they are ranked higher than us. We know how tough England were in the Commonwealth Games,” Reid mentioned.

Last yr, the 2 sides confronted one another thrice with their final match performed on the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, ending 4-4 within the group stage. They performed out a 3-3 draw within the first leg of the Pro League match earlier than India gained 4-3 within the second, each video games performed in April.

“So, we will try to continue our good work (from the Spain match). We did really well defensively (against Spain), we have to continue it,” Reid added.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh agreed that England could be robust opponents and the hosts must play their finest hockey to beat them.

“We are taking it match by match. Spain is done now and our focus is on England and we are planning for that,” he mentioned.

“Winning penalty corners is very important and we can be better in PC conversion. We are hoping we will do better in that regard,” mentioned the drag-flicker who was not at his finest within the match in opposition to Spain.

He couldn’t discover the goal within the 5 penalty corners India obtained and likewise wasted a penalty stroke.

“Once again, we need team effort. We have to make up for those who do not do that well on a particular day.”