George Pinner made his England debut during the series

England lost a three-goal lead as the Netherlands won 5-4 to condemn Pete Nicholson's inexperienced side to a third defeat in the Hamburg Masters.

Barry Middleton (two), Ashley Jackson and Matt Daly put England 4-1 up but the Dutch scored four in 12 minutes.

England lost 6-0 to Germany on Thursday and 5-2 to Australia on Saturday in their other matches in the tournament.

"We played three of the world's top four which was a big step up, but I think they coped well," said Nicholson.

England will return home and take on arch rivals Australia in Test matches in Nottingham on Wednesday and Friday.

They will be seeking to start better than they did in Saturday's match against the Olympic bronze medallists.

The Australians powered into a 4-0 lead before Jackson scored twice to give England some hope, only for their opponents to score a fifth.

"It was a good game with some end to end hockey being played," said Nicholson.

"We were a bit unfortunate to go in two goals down at half-time and both keepers were kept busy, with George Pinner making some great saves.

"It was a fairly even match, but a number of our individual errors were punished."

Although we had some good spells, they were not sustained for long enough to influence the game Pete Nicholson

England's team for their opening match against hosts and world number one side Germany featured six players with fewer than three caps apiece and the inexperience told.

Four second-half goals past debutant keeper Pinner consigned England to an emphatic defeat, with Barry Middleton their only player to come close to scoring.

"The scoreline reflected the game," said Nicholson. "They were clinical in their finishing and, although we had some good spells, they were not sustained for long enough to influence the game."

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