London, July 26: After a valiant start to their campaign in the Women's Hockey World Cup where they held hosts and world No.2 England 1-1, the Rani Rampal-led buoyant Indian squad will take on Ireland in their second Pool B match on Thursday (July 26) at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Stadium.

Though a win was well within the cards for India in their opening game against the formidable England team, a defensive lapse saw them concede a late goal, forcing them to split honours with the home side.

Though India settled for a draw, the team skipper Rani was happy with her team's performance, "I think it was a great match, a good start for us. There are so many positives that we can draw from that match which will help us in the upcoming matches in the tournament. I don't think we surprised with our performance because we have done well against England in the past and this time we went for a win," Rani said.

Indian Eves will hope to move closer to the next stage in their second match against Ireland at the Vitality Hockey Women's World Cup on 26th July. Watch LIVE at 6:30 PM (IST) on @StarSportsIndia 2/2HD, @hotstartweets and @ddsportschannel.#IndiaKaGame #HWC2018 #INDvIRE pic.twitter.com/6GYmxqrGJz

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) July 25, 2018

She further added that the team watched the videos from their opening match and are better-prepared for the challenge against Ireland.

"The entire team including support staff sat down for a meeting after the match to discuss our performance. We also discussed the goal we conceded and how we could have averted it. Our team feels we can do better than what we played against England and the aim is to improve match-by-match," added the striker.

On the other hand, world No.16 Ireland will be coming into their second match, high on confidence, after the resounding 3-1 win against the seventh-ranked USA.

Ireland are currently leading Pool B and would want to carry on that momentum into the game against India.

India has also watched video replays from Ireland's win over USA and Rani and coach Sjoerd Marine were looking to cash in on that aspect.

.@SjoerdMarijne, Chief Coach of the Indian Eves, is proud of the way the players performed in front of a massive crowd for the first time and wants them to show the same confidence in the rest of their campaign at the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018.#IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/MLBLf3A16l

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) July 25, 2018

"Yes, we have watched videos from Ireland's match against USA and credit goes to them for a good start and good defending to hold their lead till the end. In the three days rest that we have had, we played few practice matches among ourselves to try out different methods in goal scoring and keep up the momentum. We need to make a good start against Ireland and keep up the pressure on them. We are confident and ready for the next challenge," Rani added.

(Source: Hockey India)

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Match starts at 6.30PM IST, Thursday, July 26

Live on Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD 2 and DD Sports

Live streaming on Hotstar