Ben O'Connor urges Great Britain to up their game in order to realise World Championship promotion ambitions

The hosts extended their winning start to the Division 1A tournament to three games at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena with a 3-0 victory over Lithuania.

But they were made to work hard for the win and were grateful to a solid display in net by goalie Ben Bowns, who recorded his second shutout of the tournament.

Pete Russell’s team sit top of the standings following Tuesday night’s win, which came courtesy of goals from Cade Neilson, O’Connor’s former Sheffield Steelers’ team-mate Rob Dowd and defenceman Nathanial Halbert.

They now face Romania on Wednesday before closing out their schedule with an encounter against Italy on Friday night.

Italy’s 4-2 defeat to an increasingly impressive Poland earlier in the day on Tuesday has effectively turned the battle for two promotion spots into a three-horse race, however, meaning GB will probably have to win both their remaining games to ensure their return to the top tier after just one year away.

But to achieve their aim, defenceman O’Conor said the hosts must do better after a ‘sloppy’ display against a Lithuania team still looking for their first win of the competition.

“They are a good team and if you have an off night like we did tonight, they are going to push you close,” said O’Connor.

“And I think that comes down to ourselves. We weren’t ready, we played sloppy hockey and we weren’t connected - passes were going everywhere and when you play like that, it is going to be a close game.

“I don’t think we’ve played to our full potential yet in this tournament..We’ve got to build and we’ve got to sort that out because there are some big games coming up and we want gold. So we need to sit down, have a chat and get back to what makes us a good team.”

O’Connor, who helped Guildford Flames finish runners-up in the Elite League last season, also warned against complacency against a Romania side battling to avoid relegation.

“It’s not a game we can take lightly at all,” added the former Sheffield Steelers’ player. “They got a good result against Lithuania the other day, they were two goals down and came back and won 3-2 - you can’t take any team lightly in this tournament.

“Poland were fighting for their lives and knew that if they lost today (against Italy) there was no hope for promotion. So they were fighting for everything and the team that wanted it more in that game came out on top.

“If you have an off night, you’re in for a hard night, but if we play the way I know we can, then we should be okay.”

O’Connor’s assessment of the performance was one echoed by the GB coaching team, with assistant coach Chuck Weber admitting improvements needed to be made.

"We weren't at our best that's for sure but the main thing is we secured the win,” said Weber. “"We had the puck a lot tonight and spent some time on the powerplay and we know we will have to improve going forward.

"We know we can play better and we have another important game tomorrow against Romania. We also know we have to win out now if we are to achieve our aim of a gold medal and promotion."