Liam Ansell returns after injury

---

Liam Ansell returns from injury for Great Britain’s men’s team’s trip to Argentina in their next match in the global FIH Pro League.

Ansell, 25, has been ruled out since the Hockey Men’s World Cup late last year, when he scored two goals as England finished fourth.

Also included in an FIHPL squad for the first time is Reading’s Peter Scott, who would be in line to make his Great Britain debut if selected to face the Olympic champions. Scott is the sixth GB Elite Development programme to be included in an FIHPL squad this year.

Mikey Hoare is also set to play in the FIHPL for the first time, while David Condon is back after missing the last games against New Zealand and Australia. Liam Sanford will miss the trip after recent knee surgery.

Great Britain are looking for a first win over Argentina since a test series in 2015, while the reigning Olympic champions will be looking for revenge over the English players who inflicted a world cup quarter final defeat on them just a few short months ago.

Full squad:

David Ames (ENG) (Holcombe)

Liam Ansell (ENG) (East Grinstead)

David Condon (ENG) (East Grinstead)

Brendan Creed (ENG) (Surbiton)

Adam Dixon (Capt) (ENG) (Beeston)

Alan Forsyth (SCO) (Surbiton)

James Gall (ENG) (Surbiton)

Harry Gibson (GK) (ENG) (Surbiton)

Mikey Hoare (ENG) (Wimbledon)

Lee Morton (SCO) (Reading)

George Pinner (GK) (ENG) (Holcombe)

Phil Roper (ENG) (Wimbledon)

Peter Scott (ENG) (Reading)

Ian Sloan (ENG) (Wimbledon)

Luke Taylor (ENG) (Surbiton)

Zach Wallace (ENG) (Surbiton)

Jack Waller (ENG) (Wimbledon)

Sam Ward (ENG) (Old Georgians)

Henry Weir (ENG) (Wimbledon)

Ollie Willars (ENG) (Beeston)

Great Britain will be led by Assistant Head Coach Russell Garcia for this fixture. Following an intense 12 months, with two World Cups in five months and a transition to the men’s programme, Danny Kerry will not be travelling and will be taking some time back in the UK to plan and energise, ensuring that building blocks are in place for the programme to excel leading into the remainder of the FIH Pro League, then the EuroHockey Championships and possible Olympic Qualifiers later in 2019.

Performance Director Ed Barney commented, “We have four very clear objectives for the senior programmes in 2019. One of these is about how we arrive at Olympic Qualification and 2020 with an energised, excited and fresh staff and player group. Through the early stages of the FIH Pro League we have already applied different staff models within the support staff – these have worked well and the decision for Danny to take a little time back is solely related to this. It’s an exciting opportunity for Russell, the staff team and the squad, and we know that Russell will lead the programme with real expertise, skill and passion.”

Danny Kerry added, “We’re again taking the opportunity to broaden the depth in our squad and I am excited about the inclusion of Peter Scott. The competition for places is good, the team dynamic is good and we continue to work hard on a number of areas. It seems a long time since we played Australia in February and Argentina have played a number of matches during that time. We will therefore need to be quick out of the blocks, but I am confident in the work the lads have put in over practice recently.”

Great Britain’s men currently have six points from three games in the FIHPL, while Argentina have seven points from their five matches. Argentina are currently Olympic champions but lost to league leaders Australia in their last match, although they were without drag flick specialist Gonzalo Peillat.