Women's World Cup: England anxious after corner woe, says coach Danny Kerry
- From the section Hockey
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| 2018 Hockey Women's World Cup |
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| Venue: Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London Dates: 21 July-5 August |
| Coverage: Live commentary of every England game online and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, reports on England and Ireland matches on the BBC Sport website |
England coach Danny Kerry says some of his squad have "lost belief" after a misfiring penalty corner routine threatened their World Cup place.
A 1-0 win over Ireland thanks to Giselle Ansley's final-quarter goal put England through to the play-offs, after draws in their first two pool matches.
But they needed 14 penalty corners before scoring the winning goal.
"When momentum around a corner story builds, then the players put pressure on themselves," Kerry told BBC Sport.
"I think people now have started to get a little anxious and lose a little bit of belief.
"My job over the next few days is to say 'we've got to commit to the corners, got to believe and just go for it'."
England face South Korea on Tuesday in a play-off match for a place in the quarter-finals.
Korea are yet to win a match at the World Cup, finishing third in their pool behind the Netherlands and Italy, but Kerry is wary of their threat.
"If I'm honest I'm a little anxious, as Korea are an awkward side. They will probably sit deep and play on the counter attack, they can have a corner threat.
"They are a little bit different to what we are used to. That's going to be an interesting challenge for some of our less experienced players."
England goalkeeper Maddie Hinch kept her first clean sheet in the win over Ireland, and believes the win can spur her side on.
"We are not finding the net as much as we would hope, but we are creating the chances and stopping teams creating their chances. Essentially that's all that matters.
"This whole tournament has thrown up a huge amount of surprises and we've not got too nervous. It could have gone either way.
"I think we should take a huge amount of confidence from that and how much we've fought to get where we are and take that momentum into the next game."
