By Joe Harvey 

Glasgow hockey star Lee Morton has accepted that Team GB may have to fight ugly to achieve their medal aspirations at Paris 2024.

After seeing their fortunes transform since Tokyo 2020, including a silver medal at the 2023 EuroHockey Championships, GB’s men’s side are among the favourites to podium this summer at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir.

A key cog in his team’s qualification for Paris 2024, Morton knows that his team will not have it on their own way as they hope to be the first Team GB men's squad to medal at an Olympic Games since Seoul 1988.

Morton said: “Realistically we know that we won’t be on top of every minute of every single game.

“But we’ve shown that when we’re under the cosh, we can defend and soak it up.

“That’s what tournament hockey is all about. It won’t be pretty, but we have got enough within us to grind out results if we have to.

“The playing style and the philosophy we’ve got under Paul Remington has changed everyone’s games.

“When you see the results on the pitch and how people perceive us. That’s also been quite effective.”

Team GB men are in Pool A alongside the Tokyo the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France and South Africa, with the top four teams progressing to the knockout stages.

And Britain are buoyed by the knowledge that a roaring couple of years has seen them beat every team in their pool.

At the past two Games the men’s squad were left heartbroken after being eliminated from the competition in it’s earliest stages but following an internal audit from the team’s captain, David Ames, there has been a wholesale change of fortunes for the side ahead of Paris 2024.

This included learning from the women’s squad, who have medalled at the past three Olympic Games, and the introduction of Remington as head coach in 2022.

Already this holistic investment has paid off in dividends.

In 2023 the side won European silver in Monchengladbach and finished as runners-up at the Olympic Hockey Qualifiers in Oman.

Now taking that attitude and culture which has served them so well across the English Channel, Morton believes that his team can go all the way.

“We no longer fear people," said the Old Georgians midfielder. "In the past there was a struggle to get over the last hurdle against some teams. 

“We’ve rid ourselves of that and we know in a one-off game against anyone, we can win. That’s a massive confidence boost for us.

“We are very good at the moment in how together we are. Everything being hand-in-hand makes for a good recipe to achieve our goals.

“We’ve come come together more than we ever have. That’s key to our success on the pitch.

“That’s no different with this tournament. If we can stick with each other and enjoy each other’s company, that’ll provide the results on the pitch.”

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