Barry Middleton: All eyes now fixed on London as preparations switch up a gear

The intitial feeling, though, was one of disappointment as we believed we could win the tournament going in to it.

But in retrospect, I am proud that we finished the tournament off with a medal after such a blow losing the semi-final.

We have missed out on medals in a couple of tournaments lately and we left this tournament with a much more positive feel.

There are still areas we can improve to close the gap on the teams above us.

But I honestly believe the gap isn’t a big one and compared to Holland (who lost to Germany in the final) I don’t believe there is a gap at all.

We have proven over the last few years we can match all the top teams but now we have to deliver it in tournaments again.

Obviously the biggest area for us is consistently scoring goals, both from open play and short corners.

We have unfortunately had three of our penalty -corner experts injured for long periods in the last year or so and this can affect their ability to be consistent with their form.

I think we are about where we expected to be ahead of the London 2012 Olympics.

We are now in a group of four or five teams who realistically believe they have a chance of winning the Olympics next year.

That is a nice feeling to have as a group.

We know that this next year is going to be the hardest of our life and we are looking forward to the challenge.

We know we have to keep improving this year though and we will be doing everything we can to try and gain any advantage that we can over the other countries.

Our thoughts have definitely been on London for some time now.

We have been training together as a Great Britain squad since April, which is the longest build up a GB hockey team has ever had.

Obviously we’ve been playing as our individual countries in the European Championships, but now they are out of the way the more the focus will be on London.

I am captain of my country, and if I did have the chance to lead the team out at the Olympics then it will be one of the proudest moments of my life but I am not counting any chickens yet as I know a lot of things can happen between now and then.

But myself and the group know that however much fun people think it may be to compete at a home Olympics, it won’t mean anything if we don’t perform to our potential.

People who do well at London will be talked up more than ever but also people who fail will be scrutinised more than ever also.

There will be a lot of expectation and I am not prepared for it yet as I don’t know exactly what it will entail.

We will be doing things to prepare myself and all the players over the next year so hopefully we aren’t caught out at all.

I believe our team has always performed better under pressure situations and I think that London will bring the best out of the group as a whole.

With increased expectation hopefully it brings increased excitement and support from the crowds we are going to have and we want that to drive us on during the games also.

The girls also have proven over the last year that they are big medal contenders for London but again they still have a lot of hard work between now and then to catch and overtake some of the teams just ahead of them.

Captaining your country at a European Championships and hopefully at the Olympics, is all a far cry from growing up in Doncaster.

Both my parents played and coached hockey while I was young and rather than leave me at home on a Sunday morning, it was easier to take me down to the sessions at Doncaster HC.

In the early days I would just be down there and standing around on the side but as time went on I started to get involved more and more, and I think I started properly when I was around seven.

I played hockey along with lots of other sports while I was young but was always better at hockey so when it came to making a decision which sport to carry on playing then it wasn’t a tough one.

I made the decision to move abroad when I was about 21.

Luckily a friend of mine had been out to Holland and had heard that a club was looking for players so mentioned my name and from there it was pretty easy to sort things out.

I wanted to go abroad as it got me out of university for a year and kept me away from having to have a real job!

It is the best decision I ever made and have enjoyed my life so much in different countries and honestly believe it has made me a better hockey player but also helped me grow up as a person a lot too.

Hockey in Holland is ahead of any other country as it is just a more popular sport.

They don’t have rugby and cricket to contend with so it is second behind football. This obviously gives them an advantage as they have more publicity and sponsorship available.

Clubs in Holland are much bigger in terms of membership than clubs are in England.

I think a while ago they may have been ahead in terms of development but England hockey have put a lot of effort in to the development of youngsters and we are catching up.

The game in Germany isn’t any bigger than it is in England but internationally they have had sustained success for quite a few years so that makes the game more appealing to people over there.

We know as a GB group that if we want hockey to grow in this country then the best way to do that is by our international teams being successful.

And we are getting better at that.

We definitely feel that the sport has grown in the last few years due to the Olympics coming up but also because we have been performing well both as a men’s and women’s group.

The fact it is a minority sport does hinder the game at times as kids go in to other sports before they choose hockey and sometimes we don’t get the first choice of the best athletes that are available.

But on the other hand we have been lucky as well with the sport being smaller as there isn’t as much pressure on us in public.

Also we can focus mainly on the international side of the game rather than clubs at times – Holland can’t do that as there is too much money involved from sponsors in their league/club structure – which gives GB a better chance of winning.