BBC SportOlympics

Clarke thinks GB should face India in Olympic qualification final

Great Britain travel to Santiago in March for the qualification tournament which they must win to go to Beijing.

"It's massive for hockey to be at the Olympic Games - there's no other window like it for our sport," Clarke told BBC Radio Berkshire.

"It's second-to-none to be alongside the biggest names in world sport."

He added: "We are the highest ranked team in the competition, but that's only by one place ahead of India, who are also there.

"The final should be between us and India."

Clarke was also quick to point out the strides that his club side Reading have taken in the last ten years to establish themselves as a top hockey outfit.

"I bet there's not that many people around Reading who realise just how successful we've been over the past ten years.

"We've been European Champions and silver medalists on three occasions - not something that's happened over night, it's been building for 10 or 15 years.

"Hockey is a great game - you only have to look at participation numbers to see how popular it is for people to play it.

"Once you've been to watch a few times it becomes a little bit easier. So we need to persuade people to come once."