Hockey: Scotland coach looking to bow out with gold

Scotland coach looking to bow out with gold

“I want to finish with a gold medal, although I would settle for promotion, but it’s not about me it’s about the team, and I believe we can do it,” said a confident Stott.

The Scots youngsters were relegated from the top division two years ago in Lille in rather dismal fashion. They failed to win a game until the ultimate match against France, by which time it was too little too late.

Following the withdrawal of both Italy and Wales, the tournament has been altered to a league format, so the Scots will play the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Austria, Lithuania and finally hosts Russia, with the top two being promoted to the top flight in two years’ time.

But Stott admits he knows very little about most of the opposition: “I don’t have anything on the other teams, except the Czechs, but most eastern 
European teams in the competition will play very defensive. But the real risk is the counter attack, so we have deployed defensive strategies against this style of play.”