Ice hockey: Great Britain 6-2 Serbia: Sheffield Steelers skipper happy

Captain Jonathan Phillips says he is proud of Great Britain's 'resilient' streak as they set up a winner-takes-all encounter with Italy in the Olympic Pre-Qualifiers in Cortina.
Great Britain's Olympic bidGreat Britain's Olympic bid
Great Britain's Olympic bid

GB beat Serbia 6-2 on Saturday to follow up Thursday’s 6-5 victory over Netherlands to set up Sunday’s showdown.

With Italy also beating Serbia (8-0) and Netherlands (4-2), it means the winner of Sunday’s encounter will progress through to the Final Qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

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“We might not be playing our best hockey but we are getting the job done,” said Phillips.

“I am very proud of the way we have dug inso far and found a way to win both matches.

“Neither Netherlands or Serbia gave us an easy time and we had to work hard for the victories.

“Scoring 12 goals in two games is a good sign going into a game against a higher-ranked nation.

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“We have the confidence in front of goal at the moment and scoring is being shared around.”

Sheffield forward Phillips was part of the GB squad which reached the Final Qualifying in Latvia four years ago.

“It was a great experience to go so far in Olympic qualifying last time and we want to get to that stage again,” continued Phillips.

“It is going to be a real battle against Italy but we cannot wait to get back on the ice.”

GB against Italy faces-off at 8:45pm local time on Sunday (7:45pm UK time).