Friday 5 December 2014 11:45, UK
After impressive displays at the World Cup and more recently the Commonwealth Games, England will be heading into the 2014 Champions Trophy with serious medal ambitions.
With an established and experienced core and three months of hard preparation behind them, confidence will be high for the challenges they will face, live on Sky Sports, in Bhubaneswar.
Having never won the tournament England will be looking at this year as a real opportunity to go on and challenge for their first title.
This England squad boasts a deep pool of experience with no fewer than seven players having notched up over 100 international caps.
The group harbours powerful attacking talent centred on Ashley Jackson, who alone has over 100 goals, and captain Barry Middleton, while maintaining a solid defensive core featuring Dan Fox and Iain Lewers.
In addition to the experience there is a group of younger talents also included such as attacker Chris Griffiths, Tim Whiteman and goalkeeper Patrick Smith.
Starts don’t come tougher than facing the world's number one-ranked side and that is exactly what England will do against Australia on Saturday, live on Sky Sports. The Kookaburras are playing for their sixth Champions Trophy in a row in a competition they clearly enjoy and love.
However the Aussies come into the tournament with a few question marks as the squad will be without captain Mark Knowles and the great Jamie Dwyer. Tom Craig, Matthew Dawson and Flynn Ogilvie will be debutants.
They will be boosted by the return of prolific goalscorer Russell Ford who missed both the World Cup and Commonwealth Games with a calf injury.
Belgium will make their second Champions Trophy appearance and are always a serious threat with their attacking pedigree.
Led by coach Jeroen Delmee, a six-time winner of the tournament with the Netherlands, the side are in safe and experienced hands.
But it has been a difficult year for Pakistan after they failed to qualify for the World Cup and it is very much anyone’s guess how well they will get on at this tournament.
Muhammad Imran and Muhammed Waqas, who have over 400 caps between them, will be present as will a host of inexperienced teenagers.
Bhubaneswar is found in the Indian state of Odisha on the east coast of India and the teams will arrive at the beginning of winter with temperatures averaging around 22 degrees Celsius.
Matches will be played at the 5,000-seater Kalinga Stadium which holds India’s first Olympic standard pink and blue pitch.
The men's Champions Trophy begins on Saturday with Australia v England at 6.30am on Sky Sports 4.
