Martin Scanlon has had a double reason to celebrate in recent weeks after making the grade in hockey and getting a place at Loughborough University to study sport science.

He said: "I am looking forward to getting a place in the England U18s against teams including Wales and Scotland.

"We are confident we can win the tournament as we have played together for a couple of years."

Martin has set his sights on making the first team for Loughborough and believes that would put him in a good position to catch the attention of the national selectors.

He said: "I want to make the England U21 team that is going away to the Youth Olympics in Australia in January and then the Junior World Cup in Malaysia in June.

"But I am going to be busy as I will have trials for the Great Britain U21 side in September. It is my target to get involved in the 2012 Olympics but I should definitely be involved with the GB squad for 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow."

The Brooklands MUHC player is no stranger to the big occasion but the 18-year-old admits there are some areas of his game that he is determined to work on during the next few months.

He said: "I am wanting to improve my composure in front of goal as I set plenty of goals for other people but I haven't scored as much as would have wished.

"I am playing as a centre-forward and I feel I have to start getting more goals if I want to make the national squads."