Ellis has played 15 times for Great Britain

Ipswich forward Jo Ellis says she is "relieved and excited" to be included in the Great Britain women's Olympic hockey squad.

The 26-year-old, who has struggled with injury over the past six months, has been named in a 16-strong squad.

"Before I'd played for England I dreamt about the Olympics which will be on a different scale to any tournament I've played in," she told BBC Radio Suffolk.

Ellis is currently preparing for Beijing at an event in Holland.

It will be the first time the Great Britain women's hockey team has played at an Olympic Games since Sydney in 2000.

"For those who were involved in the last Olympic cycle but didn't make it I think it means even more to them this time," Ellis said.

"The team is pretty young, there are only three players who've been to the Olympics before so everyone is pretty excited.

"We're ranked ninth in the world at the moment so we obviously want to become a lot higher than that.

"I think we've just got to set targets for each game and hopefully improve our ranking and it's everyone's dream to come home with something."

Ellis is the sixth Ipswich player to be selected for the Olympics after Sandie Lister, Vickey Dixon, Jo Thompson, Jane Smith and Hilary Rose.