MacKay, centre, scored during England's 6-4 win against South Africa

England and Reading hockey player Iain MacKay says the team are confident ahead of Thursday's World Cup match against Pakistan.

So far England have beaten Australia and South Africa.

McKay told BBC Berkshire:"Most of the guys are confident, we've beaten Pakistan recently at major tournaments - at the Olympics.

"We've still some way to go but if we can play anywhere near our full potential, we should be alright."

MacKay admitted the team were surprised by the challenge South Africa posed them during Tuesday's 6-4 win.

"That was the first time I'd faced South Africa in a major tournament and beforehand we thought they'd be the weakest team in the pool, so we were quite shocked by how hard they came out," he said.

"We were a goal down but fortunately we got our game together, got some goals and pulled away towards the end of the match."

Pakistan lost their opening game to hosts India, but came back to beat Spain.

MacKay said England had learned from watching that game.

"They looked good, especially going forward. Pakistan will be disappointed to have been beaten by India in their first game of the tournament, so perhaps people expected them not to be at the races," he said.

"But they played really well and it's something we'll be looking at, them coming forward, because they can counter-attack really quickly."

Given Pakistan and India's rivalry, MacKay hopes for some of the home supporters to back England.

"The atmosphere has been amazing, especially at our first game because Pakistan were playing India afterwards and the stadium was full, with a capacity of 20,000," he said.

"You don't get those sort of crowds in Europe - there's a real passion for the game in India.

"I think we'll have the neutral Indian supporters on our side because of the rivalry between those two countries, so hopefully we'll get some good support.

"We haven't got too many parents out here - we normally have a few - so it'll be good to have the home fans rooting for us."

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