With just 11 days left for the London Olympic qualifiers, Indian hockey coach Michael Nobbs is busy fine-tuning the minute aspects, which according to him should help the players avoid the mistakes that cost the team dearly in the recent past.
"The training is going on really well. There are no injury issues and we are now just fine-tuning. We are focusing on every little detail, every little thing that can cost us," Nobbs said at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on Tuesday.
While former India captain Dilip Tirkey, who is also a government appointed national selector, was seen working extensively with defenders for the past few days. Nobbs paid special attention to the drag-flickers during the training camp.
"Dilip has joined the camp a few days back and he is taking care of the defensive line. We have brought him to fine-tune this area," he said.
"In the next 4-5 days we will complete the analysis of all the participating teams.
"Penalty corner is a very important aspect in modern day hockey. They can win or lose you a game. We are getting better and better in penalty corners. We have 3-4 best drag-flickers in our team," the Australian added.
The coach also warned his wards to guard against complacency in the qualifiers, in which India will be participating as a higher-ranked side.
The Indian men's team will face Canada, Singapore, France, Italy and Poland in the event, to be held here from February 18-26.
"There will be no easy game because all the teams will be coming here hoping to qualify for the Olympics. We do have a better team but we cannot take any side lightly," Nobbs said.
